Energy services firm Hunting yesterday unveiled plans to sell its ship-broking division to an employee benefit trust (EBT), with a deal expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
City analysts had previously identified EA Gibson Shipbrokers as a “non-core asset” for the FTSE 250 firm, although the timing of the potential sale is understood to be unrelated to the recent plunge in the price of oil.
The company said: “The transaction is expected to complete by the 31 March and is conditional on a number of matters including the management of Gibson finalising structure and funding.
“An update to the sale process will be provided at Hunting’s 2014 full-year results, which are scheduled to be announced on Thursday 5 March.”
EBTs are becoming an increasingly popular vehicle through which owners can sell their businesses to their staff.
The broader trend for employee ownership has received high-profile support from politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business Secretary Vince Cable, both of whom have promoted the concept of the “John Lewis economy”, through which staff own shares in their employers.
Edward Aisbett Gibson founded his shipping company in 1893 to export fuel from the Welsh coalfields.
The company was taken over in 1925 by Newcastle-based oil shipping agent Hunting & Son, which in turn traced its roots back to the coal industry in the 1870s.
Hunting & Son diversified into aircraft manufacturing and precision engineering before listing on the stock market as three separate companies and later merging to become Hunting in 1989.
Hunting – which is based in London and has major divisional operations in Aberdeen – sold its Canadian midstream business, Gibson Energy, in 2008 and went on to buy Texas-based electronics firm Innova-Extel in 2010.
Since then the company has made a string of acquisitions, including Dearborn, Specialty Supply and WL Doffing.
The run of deals culminated with its takeover of Titan Group in 2011 for £475million.
London-based Gibson Shipbrokers is based in London and has operations in Hong Kong, Houston, Shanghai and Singapore.
As well as oil, the company handles liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and dry products such as coal, grain and iron ore
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