Jobs saved as buyer found for subsea engineer IMES
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IMES, which provides inspection, examination and engineering services, called in Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs of KPMG as joint administrators after suffering cash flow problems linked to the oil sector downturn. It has now been acquired by Glasgow-based Seanamic Group.
The company had a turnover of about £5 million and was cash generative in 2014 before suffering a drop in client orders last year as the oil and gas sector began to cut costs in response to plunging crude prices.
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Following their appointment, which came after an attempt by IMES’s directors to secure new investment, the administrators agreed the sale of the firm’s trading business and certain assets to Seanamic, which was formed in 2014 through a tie-up between Glasgow-based offshore handling specialist Caley Ocean Systems and Texas-headquartered cable and umbilical manufacturer Umbilicals International.
All 49 staff, 23 of whom are based in Aberdeen, have transferred to the new owner under the deal. There are a further six employees at IMES’s depot in Rosyth, with 20 more based south of the Border.
Nimmo said: “In these difficult times for the oil and gas sector in particular, we are pleased to have concluded the sale to Seanamic Group, which will safeguard the jobs of the company’s employees, preserve customer service and provide the best available outcome for all stakeholders of IMES. We wish the purchaser every success in taking the business forward.
“The administration of IMES is another example of the current challenges in the oil and gas sector, whilst also demonstrating that there is appetite for investment in stressed and distressed businesses in the sector.”