An Aberdeen-headquartered oil well integrity firm has established itself in the US through an acquisition.
Read Cased Hole said it had shelled out a multi-million dollar sum for Proactive Diagnostic Services (PDS).
PDS was founded in 1995 to offer well-logging services in Alaska.
The company has expanded over the years and now has customers in the Lower 48 and Gulf of Mexico regions.
PDS has a head office in the Greater Houston area, and facilities in North Slope and Anchorage, Alaska.
It has a headcount of 12, with seven people in Houston and five in Alaska.
All 12 will be kept on by Read, taking the buyer 49 staff members in total.
PDS was privately owned, with the majority shareholding belonging to chief executive Joey Burton.
Mr Burton will remain with the company for an extended period in an advisory role.
Roy Martin, chief executive of Read, said: “By integrating the complementary strengths of Read and PDS, we are creating a business of significant scale, capability and geographic footprint, that can ably service oil and gas operators worldwide.
“There are real synergies between our businesses – our skilled and qualified people, depth of experience, and unrivalled technical know-how.
“We look forward to this exciting next phase of Read’s growth and market expansion, and to bringing an enhanced portfolio of solutions to a broader customer base.”
Read was founded in Norway in the 1980s.
Norway’s Norvester Equity snapped up a 95% stake in Read for an undisclosed sum in 2016.
Prior to that transaction, the Read’s largest shareholder was Energy Ventures, another Norwegian private equity player.
