There has been a change of ownership at Aberdeen-based engineering companies DE Engineering and DE Hydraulics.
Four private investors have bought the businesses for an undisclosed sum and created Hydrus Group.
All 30 staff have transferred to Hydrus, which plans to recruit up to a further 10 employees in the next year.
Turnover is being targeted to grow from about £5million to more than £6million in the next 12 months and to exceed £10million in three years.
The investors are Jim Clark, Martin Anderson, Graeme Matthew and Gordon Hope.
Previously, the DE units were majority owned by Dennis Esson, while Mr Matthew had a minority stake.
Mr Clark, a serial investor, will be chairman of Hydrus. Mr Anderson, a former chief executive of Triton Group, becomes managing director.
Mr Matthew, a founding director of both DE firms, becomes a director of the new group, supporting its sales and business-development activities, while Mr Hope becomes financial director.
Mr Anderson is predicting a bright future for Hydrus.
He said: “DE Engineering was a well established company, having been in business for 10 years, while DE Hydraulics (formed in 2008 by directors of DE Engineering) had already carved an impressive reputation for itself within the sector.
“Identifying the strong potential for growth for both firms, we recognised the companies were extremely exciting prospects and we are delighted to have now finalised the deal to take control of the businesses and form a new and dynamic company in Hydrus.
“We are looking forward to building on a decade of success and further harnessing the skills and expertise of our talented team of staff to drive the business forward to a period of growth and expansion. This will be achieved through widening our customer base and broadening our range of products and services into – until now untapped – markets, including the subsea and renewables industries.”
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