Asco eyes fresh growth but plays down sale talk

Asco Group, the £500 million-a-year energy logistics business, is seeking fresh investment to accelerate its growth plans but yesterday played down talk of an imminent sale.

The Aberdeen-based firm, which has almost half of its 1,600-strong workforce based in Scotland, said it had reached a crucial juncture five years after it was acquired in a £125m deal backed by private equity outfit Phoenix.

A strategic review led by chief executive Billy Allan, who joined following the Phoenix acquisition, is said to have examined a “broad range of opportunities that lie ahead for the business”.

Asco has more than doubled its revenues from about £240 million in 2005 to £516.7m last year. Recently-released accounts also showed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – the firm’s preferred measure of profitability – had risen 7 per cent last year to £29.2m.

Allan said: “A key conclusion from our review was that, being halfway through our ten-year plan and with the scale of opportunities now being presented to the group, it’s the right time to seek additional investment. This will support our ambitious growth plans over the next five years.”

He added: “We support more oil and gas operators in more locations around the world than any other specialist logistics company. Prime targets for new locations for Asco include Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and south-east Asia in addition to the existing markets we serve.”

It is understood that the group has appointed advisory boutique Lexicon Partners to study a range of investment options. A spokesman for Asco said a report suggesting that Phoenix was “poised to sell” the business was wide of the mark.

Asco plans to explore the options for additional funding with a “small number of potential investors”.

SCOTT REID