Webuild in box seat for Clough deal

Italy’s Webuild may still engineer a rescue deal for Clough just a week after walking away from a takeover.

Clough and Webuild are joint venture partners on the giant Snowy Hydro 2.0 expansion in NSW.

Webuild is back in the box seat as the most likely buyer of Clough, only one week after the Italian company’s decision to walk away from a deal that sent the century-old West Australian contractor into administration.

The Australian understands Clough administrator Deloitte has sidelined rival bidders, including ASX-listed NRW Holdings, and is dealing exclusively with Webuild as the Italian construction giant picks over the bones of Clough’s best projects.

Deloitte was appointed as voluntary administrators to Clough after Webuild’s December 2 decision to pull out of a deal to buy the company for $500,000, plus the forgiveness of about $350m owed by its South African parent company, Murray & Roberts.

While the company’s local management is believed to have tried to find an alternative buyer ahead of Deloitte’s appointment, inviting NRW to return to the table, sources say Deloitte has now dealing only with Webuild in an effort to stitch together a new deal that could be flagged at the first meeting of the company’s creditors on December 15.

But sources say that meeting is likely to be a complicated affair, with Clough holding significant debts to its trade creditors, as well as owing about $20.1m in accrued employee benefits at June 30, according to the company’s last annual financial returns.

Clough’s financial statements also show it owes $87.8m from a loan from the joint venture with Webuild on its Snowy 2.0 contract. In addition, it is not clear how banks backing performance bonds over Clough projects will be treated during the administration and sale process.

A spokesman for Deloitte declined to comment on details of the negotiations on Tuesday, but said discussions with potential buyers were “well progressed”.

“Interest in the business and projects has been encouraging. Discussions with interested parties are well progressed,” he said.

Major clients of Clough have already been forced to step in to reassure the company’s subcontractors they will be paid for ongoing work amid threats to withdraw services. Mitsui E&P Australia and Beach Energy - the owners of the Waitsia gas project - this week said they had stepped in to make payments to sub-contractors working on the job, handing cash to Deloitte to be passed on to subcontractors. “Mitsui and Beach have facilitated with Clough’s administrators, Deloitte Australia, a payment for amounts due to subcontractors of the Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2,” Mitsui said in a statement.

“This payment was made using funds advanced by Mitsui and Beach to Clough’s administrators for this purpose. This latest payment follows the provision of funding to Clough’s administrators by the Waitsia joint venture to ensure payments continue to flow to those who have amounts owing in respect of the Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2.”

Clough held a meeting with staff on Tuesday and sources said all employees should be paid for December with hope that sub-contractors will also receive payments. The collapse of the engineering firm has created uncertainty over a string of projects including some of the biggest energy developments in Australia.

These include the government’s Snowy 2.0 hydro expansion, WA’s Waitsia gas project and the 900-kilometre Energy Connect power cable linking South Australia and NSW.

Clough’s demise has already delayed a $6.2bn Pilbara fertiliser project with Perdaman Chemicals boss Vikas Rambal confirming last week he will be forced to delay a final investment decision on the Burrup manufacturing plant. Perdaman had previously been targeting a final investment decision by Christmas for the facility but Mr Rambal said that timeline would now slip into 2023 as it weighs a rescue plan following Clough’s fall.

Webuild last week confirmed it has stepped in to safeguard the federal government owned hydro expansion in NSW.

It’s understood all blue collar workers on the Snowy project are employed by the Future Generation joint venture and will not be hit by the collapse of Clough.

Clough and Spain‘s Elecnor were building the EnergyConnect cable between the states but Transgrid, responsible for the NSW portion of the project, said the 900 kilometre line would still be delivered by late 2024.