Jacobs Sinks on Stone & Webster Acquisition

Shares of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. lost 6% after news late Monday that it had acquired a Boston-based construction company that is seeking bankruptcy protection. Stone & Webster agreed to sell “substantially all” of its assets and contracts to Pasadena-based Jacobs Engineering for $150 million in cash and stock. Jacobs has agreed to assume certain liabilities and advance as much as $50 million in working capital funds to Stone & Webster. Stone & Webster says its filing of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition this month will make it impossible to determine what shareholders will receive after the sale. The acquisition gives Jacobs entry to the growing power market and strengthens its industrial client base, Jacobs President and Chief Executive Noel Watson said. Stone & Webster employs 5,000. In New York Stock Exchange trading, Jacobs shares fell $2 to close at $31.69. Stone & Webster’s stock plummeted to $3 last week after it announced it was seeking a buyer.