Oil and gas service firm Rigmar is to accelerate plans to invest millions of pounds in Dundee after London-based investment group FR Momentum took a majority stake in the growing business.
Rigmar, which has already unveiled £15m expansion plans for its base at the city’s port, also revealed it has already snapped up Aberdeen-based marine services group Interocean following the cash injection.
Managers believe the tie-up will provide capital to speed up the development of Rigmar’s operations in Dundee, Aberdeen and at Invergordon and last night revealed they are already eyeing further acquisitions.
But they declined to reveal the scope of FR Momentum’s investment, or the value of the deal to take over Interocean.
Chief executive Robert Dalziel said the alliance created new opportunities for his firm, which expects to double turnover to around £60m this year, to broaden the scope of its offer.
“We have worked closely with Interocean and its board since we formed Rigmar in 2007,” he said.
“The acquisition is a natural move that allows us to add marine and mooring services to our current capabilities, which include engineering and design, project management, fabrication, construction, inspection, access, scaffolding, blasting and painting, accommodation, and resource management.
“Further to this, we plan to make substantial investment in Invergordon and Dundee in our quest to build world-class facilities for the repair of offshore rigs and fabrication of subsea equipment.”
FR Momentum a partnership between long-standing global energy investor First Reserve and Guernsey-based partnership EGI says its aim is to build a portfolio of fast-growing oil and gas firms.
Its typical investment in a portfolio company is between $25m and $75m, and it targets businesses with high-growth potential through market opportunity, entrepreneurial management teams and sustainable competitive advantage.
The group’s website also lists Safehouse Habitats, based at Dundee’s Claverhouse Industrial Estate, as a portfolio company, with FR Momentum having “led the acquisition” of the firm in January.
Rigmar made a number of “key” executive appointments earlier this year, and has since relocated to new headquarters at Hareness Circle in Aberdeen.
The Interocean acquisition takes its total workforce headcount to almost 140, including newly-combined management teams, and adds £12m in revenues based on recent figures.
Rigmar bought Dundee-based Riverside Engineering in 2012 and has since increased the size of its Port of Dundee yard from 11,000ft2 to 150,000ft2.
Interocean’s Keith Nelson, now chief operating officer at Rigmar, said it would be “business as usual” for clients and staff of both companies.
“There will be no disruption to day-to-day operations,” he said.
“Naturally, this investment enhances our capabilities, allows us to introduce service extensions, as well as giving us the streamlined vision that will enable us to create added value to our clients.
“We are delighted to formally partner with Rigmar and are enthusiastic about the vast career opportunities that this relationship creates for our staff, who have driven our success and made this exciting chapter of sustained, accelerated growth possible.
“We are thankful that First Reserve Momentum saw the opportunity in Rigmar and Interocean. We look forward to building on their expertise to realise our ambition and become a leading provider of project solutions across the industries we serve.”