Scottish energy firm snapped up in £28m deal

A Scottish oil services technology firm has been snapped up by stock market-listed energy group Hunting in a deal worth up to £28 million.
From left: Enpro subsea directors Craig McDonald, Ian Donald, Steve Robb, Neil Rogerson and Tom Bryce. Picture: Malcolm DuckworthFrom left: Enpro subsea directors Craig McDonald, Ian Donald, Steve Robb, Neil Rogerson and Tom Bryce. Picture: Malcolm Duckworth
From left: Enpro subsea directors Craig McDonald, Ian Donald, Steve Robb, Neil Rogerson and Tom Bryce. Picture: Malcolm Duckworth

Aberdeen-based Enpro Subsea, which employs around 40 staff in Aberdeen, Ghana, Norway and the US, has been acquired in the deal struck with its management team and Energy Ventures (EV) Private Equity.

The agreement, the latest amid growing activity in the oilfield services sector, comes two years after EV invested in the company to back its global growth ambitions.

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The headline value of the all-cash acquisition deal is just under £26m with a further sum of up to £2m payable depending on financial performance in 2020.

The company will continue to trade under the Enpro Subsea brand and operate with the existing senior management team from its facilities in Westhill in the city.

Enpro was founded in 2011 and has developed subsea production technology used by offshore operators across the global oil and gas industry.

Its products are focused on delivering production improvements to boost output.

'Capitalise on a growing market'

All the firm’s manufacturing is currently outsourced to third parties. Hunting said that after completion of the deal it intends to bring much of the manufacturing in-house by using the group’s existing global facilities,

Hunting said its broad customer base also “offers significant opportunities to extend Enpro’s current market reach".

In the year ended 31 December Enpro generated revenue of £10.9m and pre-tax earnings of £2.6m. Its order book stood at £8.5m.

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Jim Johnson, chief executive of Hunting, said: “The acquisition of Enpro further strengthens Hunting’s subsea offering and adds a high technology product group to our portfolio.

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“The offshore market continues to strengthen and we look forward to providing a wider technology offering to our customers who continue to seek lower cost, enhanced production and more efficient solutions to the production of oil and gas.”

Ian Donald, CEO of Enpro, added: “Enpro’s technology offering has been utilised by major operators in key offshore development basins across the world.

“In joining the Hunting group we look forward to utilising its global operating platform to develop new customers and sales and to capitalise on this growing market segment.”

Advisors on the deal inlcuded Anderson Anderson & Brown.

EV Private Equity, which has offices in Aberdeen, Stavanger and Houston, invested in the company as part of a £140m pledge to back North Sea businesses.

Earlier this month Enpro won industry body Subsea UK’s Company of the Year award.

Hunting operates a major site at Badentoy in Aberdeen.

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