Technip CEO says Shaw buy means new U.S. opportunities

Technip, a Paris-based engineering and project management company for the energy industry with 30,000 workers worldwide, expects to pursue new opportunities in the U.S. market with its purchase of The Shaw Group’s refining and petrochemical process technology, its CEO tells The Houston Chronicle. Technip announced Monday its plans to purchase The Shaw Group’s Stone & Webster process technologies—which make up a significant portion of Shaw’s Energy & Chemicals unit—for $300 million. About 1,200 employees of Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group will transfer to Technip, including 500 in Houston. “This acquisition gives us both a set of technology and know-how that can be applied for present and future opportunities in the U.S. market,” CEO Thierry Pilenko says. “At Technip, we are always trying to improve or expand our portfolio of technology.” Stone & Webster draws revenue from technology licensing, process design engineering, early-stage and front-end engineering and equipment supply, according to a Technip news release on the acquisition. “The idea is that [now] we have some technology that is complementary to ours, and we plan to offer that portfolio to our clients, either in refining or petrochemicals,” Pilenko says. The petrochemical industry is enjoying a boom because of low prices for natural gas, which provides both fuel and feedstock for plants that manufacture the building blocks for plastics and other products. Pilenko predicts a smooth integration for the new acquisition, saying that the engineering background of both companies will make for a compatible culture.