It has been a wild ride. Honestly, if you’d looked at the Wood Group PLC share price a few years ago and compared it to where we are in January 2026, you probably wouldn't believe it's the same company. We're talking about a business that once sat comfortably with a valuation over £5 billion. Now? It’s a completely different story.
The stock is currently hovering around 26.4p, with a market cap that’s a tiny fraction of its former glory. Just yesterday, January 14, 2026, it closed at 26.10p. It feels like we’ve spent the last year just waiting for the next shoe to drop.
The Sidara Deal: A Lifeline or a Lowball?
Basically, everything right now revolves around the UAE-based engineering giant, Sidara. After months of back-and-forth and a five-month suspension of trading that felt like an eternity for shareholders, a formal bid finally landed at 30p per share.
You’ve got to remember that Sidara was originally sniffing around with offers as high as 35p. But Wood Group’s books were, to put it mildly, a mess. The 2024 annual results—which were so delayed they triggered the trading suspension—revealed a staggering $2.7 billion pre-tax loss.
- The 30p Offer: Recommended by the board as the "best option" for survival.
- The Alternative: Total wipeout. The board literally warned that anything else could lead to "zero value" for investors.
- The Cash Injection: Sidara is promising to pump $450 million into the business to keep the lights on.
It’s a bit of a "take it or leave it" situation. Shareholders have been voting this month, and while some are grumbling about the low price, the reality of a $1.6 billion debt pile doesn't leave much room for negotiation.
Why the Stock Collapsed
You can’t talk about the current price without looking at the 2017 acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler. It was supposed to be a masterstroke. Instead, it became an anchor.
Wood Group inherited a mountain of legacy issues, including asbestos litigation and loss-making "lump sum" contracts. These are the kinds of deals where if costs go up, the contractor (Wood) eats the loss. And boy, did they eat some losses. Between 2017 and 2024, the company burned through roughly $1.5 billion in free cash flow.
Then came the "accounting failures." An independent review last year found that information had been withheld from auditors. It’s the kind of news that makes investors run for the hills. When trading finally resumed in November 2025, the stock jumped 38% just because it was allowed to trade again, but it’s still a long way from its 52-week high of 72.60p.
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What Analysts Are Saying Right Now
Despite the gloom, some people see a turnaround play here. If the Sidara deal goes through as expected in the first half of 2026, Wood Group becomes a private entity. But if you’re looking at the remaining public data, the forecasts are surprisingly mixed.
Some analysts, like those at Peel Hunt, have been blunt, calling recent half-year results "terrible." Yet, the median price target from the few analysts still covering the stock sits around 45.39p. That's a massive 70% upside from current levels, assuming the company can actually stabilize.
There's a lot of "if" in that sentence.
The Financial Health Check
Wood has been selling off pieces of itself like a garage sale to stay afloat. They recently completed the sale of their interest in RWG to Siemens Energy and disposed of their North American transmission and distribution business for £81.5 million.
The goal? Get the debt under control before a major maturity deadline in October 2026. If they don't have Sidara’s backing by then, refinancing that debt in a high-interest-rate environment would be a nightmare.
The Strategy for 2026 and Beyond
Ken Gilmartin, the CEO who’s been trying to steer this ship through a hurricane, has been pushing a "Simplification" program. They're aiming to cut costs by $145 million by the end of this year.
They are also finally out of the "lump sum turnkey" (LSTK) business. No more high-risk, fixed-price gambles. The order book is actually looking decent at over $6 billion, mostly focused on consulting and sustainable energy projects like carbon capture.
But talk is cheap.
The market is waiting to see if they can actually generate positive free cash flow. They’ve promised it will happen this year (2026), but we’ve heard that before.
What You Should Actually Do
If you’re holding Wood Group PLC shares right now, you’re likely staring at the 30p takeover price. It acts as a sort of "ceiling" for the stock. It’s unlikely to trade much higher than that until the deal is finalized or a rival bidder emerges—which seems improbable given the state of the balance sheet.
For those looking to jump in? It’s high-stakes gambling. You’re betting on the deal closing. If it fails, that 26p price could look like a luxury.
Actionable Insights for Investors:
- Monitor the Court Meetings: Watch the filings regarding the Sidara acquisition. Any delay in the H1 2026 completion timeline will cause immediate volatility.
- Watch the Debt Waivers: The company is currently surviving on temporary waivers from lenders. If these aren't extended, the 30p offer becomes irrelevant as the company faces insolvency.
- Check the Disposal Proceeds: Wood needs the cash from their recent sales (like the Siemens deal) to hit their bank accounts to maintain liquidity through the winter.
The Wood Group story is a sobering reminder of how quickly a FTSE powerhouse can fall. Whether Sidara can polish this tarnished gem remains to be seen, but for now, the share price is stuck in a waiting room.
Next Steps for Your Portfolio:
Review your exposure to UK engineering services. If you are holding WG. for the 30p exit, ensure your brokerage is set up to handle the cash consideration of the scheme of arrangement. If you're looking for recovery plays, compare Wood's current P/E of ~15x against rivals like Worley or KBR to see if the "risk-adjusted" value actually makes sense without the takeover.