Oil and gas consultancy Apply Altra has changed hands again, with Danish firm Ramboll Group becoming the latest in a long line of owners behind the Aberdeen business.
Ramboll said it took over the firm – now part of the Scandinavian group’s oil and gas division – and its workforce of about 50 people at the start of this month.
The value of the deal with Norwegian oil and gas service group Apply was not disclosed.
Apply Altra managing director Bill Yuile had previously decided to leave the business he has led for the past two years.
A spokeswoman for the company and its new owner said he was going off to pursue “personal goals”.
Ramboll Group employs about 10,000 people globally and in 2013 delivered total revenue of about £812million.
With operations in Norway, Denmark and now the UK, its oil and gas industry service operations cover all sectors in the North Sea.
Ramboll Oil and Gas employs nearly 1,000 specialists, working from offices in Denmark, the UK, Norway, Russia, India, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and the US.
Trond Helland Bynes, oil and gas executive director, said a strategic footprint in the UK “and especially Aberdeen” had been on the latest owner’s wish list for years.
He added: “With the acquisition of Apply Altra, we have a building block on which to base our future presence in the UK.”
With operations in Norway, Denmark and now also the UK, Ramboll covers all sectors in the North Sea.
Apply chief executive Peder Sortland said: “The divestment is due to a strategic review in Apply, where Altra was considered a non-core activity for us.”
Apply Altra, now operating as Ramboll Oil and Gas, was previously known as Altra Energy.
It underwent the earlier change of name after being bought by Apply subsidiary Apply Sorco from Subsea Technology Group (STG), backed by the same private equity investor, HitecVision, in early 2011.
STG had owned it since 2007, when it acquired it from Vienco.
Other past owners of the consultancy include drilling contractors Smedvig and Abbot Group.
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