September 24 (Reuters) – British oil services group Petrofac (PFC.L) said on Friday it would plead guilty to seven counts for failing to prevent corruption to secure projects in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates between 2012 and 2015, calling it a “deeply regrettable period”.

The company announced its plans in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London after being formally indicted by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), ending a four-year criminal investigation. His shares jumped 25% in relief.

Petrofac, which has struggled to secure key Middle East contracts and saw its stock crumble during the SFO investigation, will formally file its pleas and await conviction at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday .

Petrofac said offers or payments to agents to help secure projects were made between 2011 and 2017, but all employees involved are gone.

“It was a deeply regrettable period in Petrofac’s history,” President René Medori said in a statement, adding that the company’s “comprehensive program of business renewal” had been recognized by the SFO.

“Petrofac has lived in the shadows of the past, but today it is a profoundly different company, where stakeholders can be assured of our commitment to the highest standards of business ethics, where that we operate, ”he said.

Former executive David Lufkin, who pleaded guilty separately to 14 counts of corruption to secure billions of dollars in contracts for Petrofac in the Middle East, is also expected to be sentenced on Monday.

His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, the United Arab Emirates state-backed oil company ADNOC banned Petrofac from competing for new contracts in the country.

This is the second corporate guilty plea obtained by the SFO in five months.

Former Airbus subsidiary (AIR.PA) GPT Special Project Management pleaded guilty to corruption over military contracts for Saudi Arabia in April.

Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Kirstin Ridley in London; Editing by Jan Harvey and Steve Orlofsky

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