WorleyParsons shares jump after Dar Group lifts stake to 19.9pc

WorleyParsons CEO Andrew Wood

Shares in WorleyParsons jumped 3.7 per cent to a two-year high of $11.49 after a $175 million share raid.

Dubai-based Dar Group has lifted its stake in the resources services firm to 19.9 per cent after 15 million shares changed hands at $11.50/share.

Dar was expected to lodge a substantial holding notice today.

Dar launched a raid on the listed company in February, amassing a 13.35 per cent, but at that time the intention of the group was always to secure up to 19.9 per cent.

Sources today said the move offers Dar more options should it opt to embark on a takeover further down the track.

Dar had approached WorleyParsons with a takeover offer in November for at least $11 per share, but that was dismissed by the board.

Citi has been working with Dar Group while UBS and BAML have been advising WorleyParsons.

Shares in February were bought by Dar at $10.35 each but at 12.44pm (AEST) were trading at $11.45.

Before Dar’s acquisition of a stake in the group in February, shares were trading at $8.07 — a far cry from WorleyParsons’ boomtime high of more than $50 in 2007.

Dar, founded in Beirut in 1956, is owned by 35 partners working across the business and sees WorleyParsons as an opportunity to diversify into the oil and gas sector.

Shares in WorleyParson plunged sharply upon the release of its half-year results in February, when it revealed it was waiting for $230m of overdue payments from four state-owned clients.