A NEW Aberdeen-based subsea company has been formed after a management buyout (MBO) from TSMarine (Contracting).
The buyout, for an undisclosed sum, was led by Alasdair Cowie, formerly chief executive of the group, and covers the European and west African trade and assets of TSMarine (Contracting).
The MBO has been supported by Norwegian oil and gas service company Marine Subsea and has led to the formation of TSMarine Subsea, which will focus on the continued delivery of rigless-intervention, decommissioning and subsea construction services to the international oil and gas industry in Europe and west Africa.
Rigless-intervention activities will be further strengthened by support from well-intervention specialist Lewis, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marine Subsea.
TSMarine (Contracting) will continue to provide rigless-intervention, decommissioning and subsea construction services to clients throughout the Asia-Pacific region through its subsidiaries in Perth, Australia and Singapore.
Mr Cowie said: “In 2007, TSMarine (Contracting) invested more than £85million in two new-build specialist vessels in a bid to exploit the burgeoning subsea decommissioning and rigless-intervention market. But significant delays and cost over-runs with their construction were posing financial constraints across the whole business.
“We took early steps to launch a recovery programme which has initially resulted in the separation of the operating business and assets of the European and west African region from TSMarine (Contracting).
“The subsequent MBO has ensured that all 35 existing jobs and contracts are safe and the Aberdeen-based operations business can continue to develop and grow.”
TSMarine Subsea will have access to Marine Subsea’s fleet of vessels, which includes two multi-purpose intervention vessels, five offshore support units and one semisubmersible crane vessel.