The oil and gas engineering giant John Wood Group is close to opening talks for a £1.66 billion takeover by US private equity group Apollo.
Wood has rejected four proposals from Apollo but is warming to a fifth and final proposal made this month.
Having refused to engage with the bidder, it has, in recent days, written to seek assurances on certain basic issues such as how the deal would be financed and whether there would be any competition problems.
The correspondence is seen as a prelude to opening full negotiations. Those close to the process said it indicates that the offer was getting close to being acceptable for Wood’s board, chaired by oil and gas veteran Roy Franklin.
Read more: The Times
