Oil and gas services business Acteon has been sold by one private equity firm to another in a deal thought to be worth up to £405million.
First Reserve has sold a majority stake in the company to rival KKR, six years after buying a 52% share of the business for £70million.
It is understood the deal will allow Norwich-based Acteon – which owns 17 companies including the Aberdeen-headquartered firms Aquatic Engineering & Construction and NCS Survey – to grow its workforce in the coming years.
The subsea services group said its existing management team would remain in place and still held a “significant holding” in the company.
Acteon, which has annual turnover of more than £380million and operating profits of £63.1million, was founded in 1989.
The company could not comment yesterday on the deal or confirm how many people it employs, but Aquatic has a 115-strong workforce in Aberdeen and Peterhead, while NCS Survey employs around 50 people.
Aquatic alone aims to achieve £30million turnover this year, and wants to double that by 2015.
KKR said: “This is a growth investment in partnership with a highly entrepreneurial management team. We are excited to support Acteon and work with the team to develop it as a leading global franchise for offshore and subsea energy services.”
Will Honeybourne and Jeff Quake, joint managing directors at First Reserve, said they were delighted with the success of the company over the past six years.
They said: “Since our initial investment in 2006, Acteon has completed eight acquisitions, quadrupled its operating profits and significantly expanded its geographic footprint.”
Specialist corporate-finance adviser Simmons and Company International was among First Reserve and Acteon’s advisers on the deal.