Shaw clears hurdle for $300M sale of energy and chemicals business

The Shaw Group says it has gotten word from the Federal Trade Commission that a required waiting period for the previously announced sale of its energy and chemicals group to French company Technip has ended early, clearing the way for the sale to close by the end of August. Termination of the waiting period was one of the last remaining hurdles to completing the sale, Shaw says. The deal, which will net Shaw an estimated $300 million, was first announced in May. The Houston Business Journal has previously reported that Paris-based Technip will acquire Shaw’s Stone & Webster process technologies in the deal, along with 1,200 employees in business operations in Houston, two locations in Massachusetts, the U.K. and India. In a separate deal announced one week ago, Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. has agreed to acquire Shaw for $3.04 billion in cash and stock as the energy infrastructure construction company looks to diversify its offerings in growth areas like power generation. Following the acquisition, Shaw will continue as a business segment branded as CB&I Shaw. Shaw CEO Jim Bernhard Jr. will leave after the deal closes in early 2013, and CB&I CEO Philip Asherman will lead the combined company. Officials with CB&I, a Netherlands firm with U.S. operations based in The Woodlands, Texas, have told Shaw’s 27,000 employees—5,000 of whom are in Louisiana—that “once this transaction is complete, you’ll be employed by a company with the strongest energy focus in the industry.” Read another Daily Report story with more about the initial messages CB&I officials had for Shaw employees following the acquisition announcement here.