Aberdeen-headquartered Wood has announced the sale of its North American Transmission & Distribution (T&D) engineering business for $110 million (£81million).
The move is part of Wood’s programme to offload non-core businesses. With this latest transaction, the group has now secured around £200million of disposals in 2025 – well above its £110–£150million target for the year.
The buyer, Qualus, is a US-based power solutions specialist with 1,600 staff across North America, focused on grid modernisation, resiliency and renewable integration.
Wood CEO Ken Gilmartin said the sale followed a “highly competitive” auction process and underlined progress in simplifying the company’s portfolio and reducing debt.
He said: "We are pleased to announce continued progress of our non-core business disposal programme with the sale of North America T&D to Qualus, following a highly competitive sale process.
"This sale, along with the sale of Kelchner and the agreement to divest our interest in RWG, has led to approximately $275million (£203million) of disposal proceeds agreed so far this year.
"We are now on track to exceed our previously announced target for disposal proceeds as we continue to simplify our portfolio."
The deal values North America T&D at 14.9 times adjusted EBITDA. The unit employs around 250 people and generated revenues of $37.3m (£27.6million) in 2023.
Wood said proceeds will be used to pay down debt and support broader corporate purposes as the business sharpens its focus on core growth markets.
The transaction is due to close in the third or fourth quarter of this year, subject to completion of Wood’s delayed 2024 audit and regulatory sign-off.