Oil and gas service business Champion Technologies has been bought in a £1.5billion deal.
The US speciality chemical firm, which has its eastern hemisphere headquarters in Aberdeen, has been taken over by global service company Ecolab.
Following the deal with Champion’s previous owner, Permian Mud Service, Ecolab said it would merge the business with another of its divisions, water management firm Nalco, to create Nalco Champion.
Champion employs more than 170 people in Aberdeen – where it opened a £4.5million heavy-oil testing centre in 2010 – while Nalco has a site in the Granite City employing nearly 60 people.
The enlarged business will be based in Texas and employ 6,700 people in more than 160 countries.
Ecolab chief executive Douglas Baker said the company made the move for Champion as part of plans to strengthen its position in the fast-growing oil and gas service industry. He added: “This transaction is an important strategic investment in a key growth area.
“We look forward to welcoming Champion’s outstanding people to our company.”
The takeover was only allowed to go through after Ecolab agreed with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to dispose of Champion’s chemical-management services for deepwater oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico to maintain competition.
The DoJ had said the transaction would lead to higher prices, reduced quality service and diminished innovation if Champion’s interests were not sold off.
Ecolab agreed to divest the US operations to rival Clariant.
Champion’s workforce totalled 3,200 employees and last year’s annual turnover was £850million.
Ecolab, which employs more than 41,000 people worldwide, turned over nearly £7.8billion in 2012.