The parent of a north-east oil service company is changing hands in a £2.15billion deal announced yesterday.
Zenith Oilfield Technology is part of Lufkin Industries, which is to be acquired by much larger US group GE.
Zenith, which operates in the artificial-lift sector, was founded in 2004.
It has 102 staff in 35 countries, 60 of them based at Inverurie.
The firm was bought by Lufkin in a deal worth about £80million in February last year.
Zenith had been owned by its four directors: Greg Davie, Richard Hamilton, Keith Kettlewell and Leslie Jordan.
GE said yesterday the acquisition of Lufkin would accelerate the conglomerate’s growth in artificial lift with solutions for a wider variety of well types and technology for production automation and optimisation.
The transaction is also expected to strengthen GE’s turbomachinery supply chain, with the addition of Lufkin’s industrial gears and bearings.
GE added that the deal would build on its 2011 acquisition of the well-support division of Aberdeen-based Wood Group.
Daniel Heintzelman, the chief executive of GE Oil and Gas, said: “Advanced technologies, combined with new drilling practices, are revolutionising the oil and gas industry.
“The artificial-lift segment is at the heart of critical changes helping producers maximise well potential, which translates into increased output at lower operational cost. Lufkin’s world-class people, equipment and services fit perfectly in our portfolio and will enable us to offer a wide range of artificial-lift solutions to our customers in this fast-growing artificial-lift sector. In turbomachinery, Lufkin is already one of our suppliers for turbo gearing and speciality bearing products, and this acquisition allows us to further utilise its technologies and expertise for our customers.”
Lufkin CEO John Glick said: “GE represents an excellent new home for Lufkin’s technologies, services and our highly skilled and experienced employees. The global scale that GE offers, combined with its deep service offerings and network of research labs, will create new opportunities for our customers and employees around the world.
“This transaction allows us to realise our strategic objectives for expanding both our portfolio and our global platform and will allow us to reach global customers much faster and more effectively than we could have done as a standalone company.”
Lufkin has about 4,500 employees across more than 40 countries.
Oil and gas is GE’s fastest-growing business with 37,000 employees in more than 100 countries.
The unit employs about 900 people at sites in Aberdeen and Montrose, providing equipment and services to offshore drilling and subsea sectors.