A UK and US based subsea service business has been given a multi-million pound private equity investment to acquire a fleet of ROVs from shipping firm Harkand.
M² Subsea Limited attracted the money from a fund advised by Alchemy Special Opportunities.
The deal is understood to be worth between £15million and £20million.
The company will acquire 32 best-in-class ROV assets from Harkand, which went bust in May, following the investment.
The business said it expects to create at least 50 onshore and 100 offshore jobs which will operate primarily in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and eventually Asia Pacific and the Middle East by the end of next year.
Mike Arnold, who is heading up the business, was an original founder of Rovtech as well as Hallin Marine UK and worked for Bibby Offshore’s ROV services unit.
He will be joined at the firm by a management team which also includes subsea veterans Mark Wood and Mike Winstanley.
Mr Arnold said: “The time is absolutely right for a new ROV services provider with a fresh approach that can, through experience, expertise, the correct asset base and lean management, dramatically reduce both cost and risk whilst continuing to provide a professional and quality service. Key to this will be the company’s collaboration with vessel owners and operators, helping them to maximise utilization of vessels and offering competitive solutions to meet our clients’ demands.”
Johnston Carmichael acted as corporate advisers for M² Subsea. The firm’s corporate finance partner and head of oil and gas, Graham Alexander, said: “We have been supporting M2 Subsea through start-up to initial capitalisation and are looking forward to continuing to play a role in their development as a major subsea services provider globally.
“The oil and gas industry is facing one of its worst downturns in history as a result of the drop in oil price but there are real opportunities for those in the supply chain able to leverage experience to offer a fresh, cost-effective service. The highly experienced management behind M² Subsea will enable them to meet and capitalise on those opportunities.
“This deal demonstrates that there is private equity investment available for oilfield services if the price is right and the business is led by high quality management teams. There have been two notable private equity transactions in oilfield services recently and Johnston Carmichael has been at the heart of both, underlining the depth and breadth of our knowledge and our networks in this sector.”