Oil and gas logistics firm Asco Group has taken over an Australian business in a multimillion-pound deal.
Aberdeen-based Asco said yesterday it had taken a majority shareholding in Oniqua MRO Analytics, a provider of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) analytics software and services for firms in the mining, energy and utility sectors.
The Brisbane firm employs about 50 people worldwide with additional offices in Denver, Colorado, Johannesburg in South Africa, and Santiago in Chile.
The deal is the latest announced by Asco since it was bought by private-equity house Doughty Hanson late last year in a deal thought to be worth about £250million.
Asco chief operating officer Derek Smith said: “A major part of our logistics, waste-management and freight service includes optimising materials, inventory and warehouse management and at present we use a number of bespoke technical solutions to do so.
“With the addition of the analytics-based solutions that Oniqua brings, we will have even greater scope to standardise the data we collect on our clients’ operations, analyse it to uncover more opportunities for improvement, and then take actionable measures to optimise supply-chain and asset performance.”
The deal will see Asco staff join the Oniqua board alongside founders chief executive Andy Hill and Asia-Pacific president Chris Wright, who are to remain at the business.
In August, the Aberdeen firm said it had a war chest of £75million for takeovers, and, in addition to Canada, was looking to Asia-Pacific for potential targets.
Asco has already bought three Canadian oilfield service businesses this year to boost its capacity in North America and increase its ability to serve operators working in the region’s oil sands.
It also acquired Aberdeen safety training and lifting specialist North Sea Lifting, plus taken total control of Scrabster Port Services, at Caithness.
Staff numbers at Asco have grown from 1,600 to 2,000.
Mr Smith hinted more expansion was to come.
“Looking ahead, there will be more growth for the Asco Group internationally in areas such as Asia-Pacific and South America, but we’re also working very hard to grow and develop our established businesses organically, including our North Sea business,” he said.
The acquisitions are part of a previously outlined plan to double the size of the business in five years. Turnover in 2011 was £626million.
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