Amec Foster Wheeler offloads boiler business for $170 million

London-based LNG engineer Amec Foster Wheeler has completed the sale of its circulating fluidised bed boiler business to Japan’s Sumitomo Heavy Industries for $170 million.

The net proceeds of will be used to reduce the company’s net debt.

The CFB boiler business is the largest part of the company’s Global Power Group. The remaining GPG steam generator businesses include the heat recovery steam generator and industrial boilers businesses and these are also expected to be sold during 2017, according to a statement by Amec Foster Wheeler.

The North American aftermarket services business, originally part of GPG, is being retained and since the beginning of 2017, has been operating as part of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Power & Process business.

The transaction is a part of Amec Foster Wheeler’s transformation programme, that was launched by its Chief Executive, Jon Lewis, following a company-wide review.

In addition to the sale of the CFB boiler business, Amec Foster Wheeler has already completed the sale of a number of smaller assets.

“We have made significant progress with the company wide transformation programme that we launched last year. The completion of the sale of the CFB boiler business is a milestone in this programme. We are continuing to implement the programme enabling us to better serve our customers and strengthen the company’s balance sheet,” said Jon Lewis.