UPDATE: Engineering Firm Technip Settles DOJ Probe For $338 Million

(Updates with Technip statement)

Technip SA (TEC.FR, TKPPY) agreed to pay $338 million to settle U.S. charges it bribed Nigerian officials to win liquified-natural-gas contracts worth around $6 billion, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

The settlement defers prosecution of the Paris-based engineering company for two years, during which Technip agreed to be monitored and cooperate in the department's investigation. At the end of that term, the Justice Department will dismiss the criminal information against the company if it abided by the agreement's terms.

The settlement amount includes $240 in criminal penalties and $98 million in disgorgement of profits.

Technip Chairman and Chief Executive Thierry Pilenko said Monday's agreement successfully completed a plan the company set earlier this year to resolve the claims. In February, it estimated a EUR245 million charge related to the case, worth about $336 million at the time.

The deal "puts this legacy story behind us and enables us to focus on continuing to develop Technip's business," Pilenko said, noting management is commited to enhancing its compliance policies.

The contracts, which the department valued at more than $6 billion from 1995 through 2004, were for engineering, procurement and constrution of LNG plants on Bonny Island, Nigeria. Technip was part of a four-way joint venture, including KBR Inc. (KBR), seeking the contracts. The state-run Nigerian Petroleum Corp. was the largest shareholder of the firm awarding the contracts.

According to the charges, Technip hired two agents to pay bribes on behalf of the joint venture in violation of the Foreign Criminal Practices Act. Meeting with top executive officials, the two agents worked to designate an intermediary through whom they could negotiate and pay about $182 million in bribes.

The DOJ said so far it and the Securities and Exchange Commission have collected $917 million in criminal and civil penalties related to investigations into the Bonny Island contracts.

Technip American Depositary Shares traded down 0.2% at $61.46 in recent trading.

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; [e-mail]