Scottish energy industry service company the Global Energy Group this morning announced it had succeeded in its bid to buy Nigg yard.
The deal is understood to be worth more than £10million and could lead to 2,000 jobs on the site by 2015.
The sale marks a major step forward for the group’s ambitious plans to develop the 238-acre site on the Cromarty Firth in the Highlands, as a modern, multi-user facility serving a range of energy sectors, including oil and gas and renewables.
Global, which has head offices in Inverness and Aberdeen, was named preferred bidder for the North Sea fabrication yard in January.
Since then the company has been involved in a detailed due diligence process with the site’s owners, US company KBR and the Wakelyn Trust.
Global executive chairman Roy MacGregor described the purchase as a “hugely exciting development for the company, the Highlands and Scotland”.
Mr MacGregor, whose career in the energy industry began at Nigg during the heydays of North Sea oil platform fabrication in the 1970s, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be able to announce the conclusion of our purchase of Nigg yard today.
“We have been extremely busy exploring commercial opportunities for Nigg.
The levels of interest expressed to us about the yard, its strategic location and its potential for further development have absolutely underlined our own firm conviction that this facility is really special.
“From the outset our vision has always been to develop the site as a multiple-user, multi-sector facility serving the needs of the energy industry. Having completed this vital first stage of purchasing the site, we are confident we will soon be in a position to make further announcements both on our detailed strategy for Nigg and on significant commercial opportunities there.”