Wood Group Gas Turbine Services, a division of John Wood Group PLC (‘Wood Group’), has acquired the business and assets of Thomason Mechanical Corporation (‘TMC’) and sister company Bender Machine for a cash consideration of approximately $46 million. Thomason Mechanical had revenues of $61.2 million for the 12 months to September 2001. Bender Machine had revenues of $6.7 million for the 12 months to June 2002.

Thomason Mechanical is a major provider of rotating and reciprocating equipment field services to the North American power and petrochemical industries. Bender Machine supplies precision machining and coatings services to the energy industry. The companies have operations in California and Texas, and serve customers across the United States.

‘When added to our current activities, this latest acquisition further establishes Wood Group as the largest independent provider of after-market rotating equipment services to the energy industry in North America,’ said Allister Langlands, Wood Group’s Deputy Chief Executive. ‘Our scope of maintenance, repair and overhaul services covers gas and steam turbine overhaul, advanced technology component repair, component re-engineering, rotor repair, generator repair, fuel systems repair, and comprehensive field service.’

Both companies will continue to be managed by their existing management teams, headed by President Tom Erwin.

‘TMC/Bender’s history of providing the power and petrochemical industries with qualified and responsive technicians and machining capabilities combined with the technical resources of Wood Group will provide our customers with a high-quality and comprehensive service,’ said Tom Erwin. ‘Joining Wood Group gives us access to new engineering resources and sophisticated repair technologies and will enable us to extend the ‘one-stop-shop’ service philosophy we offer to customers for their complete maintenance requirements.’