SeaEnergy on the trail of acquisition targets

ENERGY services firm SeaEnergy is on the hunt for takeover targets, its chairman said yesterday, as it sits on a £22 million war chest following last year’s £50m sale of its renewables arm to Spanish oil giant Repsol.

The Aberdeen-based outfit, which parted company in January with founder Steve Remp, sailed back into the black last year thanks to the disposal of Sea Energy Renewables Ltd (Serl).

Aim-quoted SeaEnergy, which was founded in 1977 as Ramco Energy, yesterday posted a profit of £25.3m, compared with a loss of £5.7m in 2010.

The company had previously said that, following the sale of Serl, it will return the £6.9m proceeds to shareholders through a 10p dividend.

The firm still plans to sell its 25 per cent stake in Dublin-based driller Landsdowne Oil & Gas so it can focus on providing services to the growing offshore wind power industry.

Chairman David Sigsworth said: “We are continuing to pursue opportunities for the supply of specialist vessels and associated services in operations and maintenance for offshore wind, as well as the acquisition of complementary businesses.”

Sigsworth said SeaEnergy had “improved” corporate governance by splitting Remp’s executive chairman role, adding its new pay policy would “more properly align shareholder and management interests”.