EnerMech acquired

Lime Rock partners has sold specialist lifting and engineering services company EnerMech Group Ltd to The Carlyle Group for an undisclosed sum. Carlyle is a NASDAQ listed company in global alternative asset management previously associated with crane and equipment rental companies, including hoist manufacturer Kito Corp and with Coates Hire in Australia.

Capital for the investment will be provided by Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in the oil and gas sector outside North America.

Aberdeen-based EnerMech employs 3,500 people at 40 locations in the UK, Norway, the Middle East, Caspian, Asia, Africa, Australia and Americas. Activities include projects in the oil and gas, LNG, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals sectors.

For the full year 2017 EnerMech posted a revenue figure of GBP£361 million and a profit (EBITDA) of £43.6 million. It forecast an increase to £430 million for 2018 and profit around £59 million.

Doug Duguid, CEO, and Michael Buchan, CFO, founded EnerMech ten years ago. Both will stay and retain their positions. Duguid said the deal was positive news for staff and clients and said newly available capital would lead to further acquisitions which will strengthen EnerMech’s services portfolio and geographic presence.

“We are very pleased with the strong support we have enjoyed from Lime Rock over the last decade in building a thriving and sustainable business. This transaction is a natural progression in the life of any ambitious company and with the backing of Carlyle Group, which enjoys extensive relationships in the upstream and downstream sectors, we will be focused on doubling the size of the business in the next five years.

“Our strategic diversification in to large scale infrastructure projects and new geographic markets, allied to our lengthy track record in energy and the renewed confidence in that sector, were significant drivers in attracting a heavyweight investor such as Carlyle Group,” Duguid continued.

Marcel van Poecke, head of Carlyle International Energy Partners, said, “EnerMech is an attractive, well-positioned international integrated energy, infrastructure and industrial services company, led by a strong team. The company has multiple avenues for growth. We believe potential synergies across CIEP’s portfolio companies as well as the broader Carlyle family are attractive. We look forward to working with the team and supporting EnerMech’s continued growth.”

John Reynolds, Lime Rock Partners co-founder and managing director, said, “We have greatly valued our partnership with Doug Duguid, Michael Buchan, and the entire EnerMech team as we supported the business’s growth and transformation since inception. We are confident that the company will continue to thrive under Carlyle’s ownership.”