Seletar Shipping (Scotland), the Aberdeen-based ship agent, is under new ownership today after being snapped up by a subsidiary of international oil and gas logistics specialist ASCO Group.
ASCO, which also has its headquarters in the Granite City, said the deal gave it the scale needed to launch marine services in a string of key markets worldwide.
The acquisition by ASCO Marine for an undisclosed sum sees Seletar’s Shaun Eardley staying on as managing director and retaining a stake in the business.
All of Seletar’s 55 employees in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth are transferring to ASCO and there will be no job losses as a result of the takeover.
Genesis Personnel and Waterloo Quay Properties, which were both owned by Seletar but run independently, are not included in the deal.
Seletar will continue to operate as a standalone business and brand serving clients in the offshore, freight-management and logistics sectors.
It is expected to provide a platform for the international development of ASCO’s marine service arm.
ASCO chief executive Billy Allan said: “Over the last two years we have been developing our logistics activities in Trinidad, Canada Norway and Azerbaijan. The next step is to launch our marine capabilities in these markets and the Seletar deal gives us the scale needed for this.”
Mr Eardley said: “We have built an excellent business over the last 22 years but it has become clear to us that we need to be part of a larger and more suitably resourced organisation in order to move on to the next stage.
“I have been impressed by Billy Allan and his ambitious team at ASCO and look forward to working with them.”
Seletar, which was owned jointly by Mr Eardley and fellow directors Anna-Marie Eardley and Brian Lewis, was founded in Great Yarmouth in 1987. Operations were established in Aberdeen and Peterhead in 1993 and 1998 respectively.
The group relocated its HQ to the Granite City in 2001, spending six years at Waterloo Quay before a move to new offices at Tullos in 2007.
ASCO’s core business is the management and operation of oil and gas supply activities via bases in the UK, Norway, Canada, Trinidad, the US and the Caspian region.
The group, bought by private-equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners in October 2006 for £125million, also provides complementary waste, marine and freight-forwarding management services. It employs more than 1,500 people globally.