An Aberdeen-based engineering consultancy is being bought by international engineering and project-management company AMEC for up to £19million.
Performance Improvements Group (PI) is being sold by owner-managers Steve Wright, Steven Cordiner and Howard Thomas.
AMEC will pay £14million initially, with a further £5million subject to future performance of the business.
PI was formed in 1997 and has grown to employ 120 people, a figure expected to rise in the coming months.
AMEC said the focus of its new buy was the UK market, but it had a growing international reputation, which would be boosted by joining the group.
Mr Wright, managing director of PI, said: “I am delighted that this transaction gives us the opportunity to expand our capabilities internationally, with the support of AMEC’s global reputation. This is a great opportunity for an entrepreneurial business to flourish as part of a world-leading company in oil and gas services.”
PI’s client base ranges from international oil companies to new entrants, and its current overseas activities are in the Middle East, South America and the Far East.
The PI name and its three directors will remain after the takeover and the company will retain its offices in Albyn Terrace.
AMEC said the purchase was consistent with its strategy of selective acquisitions focused on enhancing services for customers in the oil and gas sector. It follows four other acquisitions in the past 18 months.
AMEC said it had growth plans for PI and expected to be recruiting over the next few months.
Sandy Clark, operations director for AMEC’s natural resources division in Europe and west Africa, said: “I am delighted to be announcing such a positive move in a period with so much gloom around.
“This is a time for financially sound companies to be bold and look to develop and enhance their capability.
“We expect the acquisition of PI will provide exciting opportunities in a market where operators are looking to maximise production from existing assets. Looking to the longer term, it will also provide significant growth opportunities as the economic outlook begins to improve.”
AMEC has annual revenue of about £2.3billion and employs about 23,000 people in more than 30 countries. Its natural resources arm, which takes in oil, gas and mining, has its HQ in Aberdeen.