Norwegian venture capitalists have bought out their former joint venture partner to take full control of Reef Subsea in a £17million deal.
Investment firm HitecVision has bought the stake in the subsea specialist owned by GC Reiber Shipping.
The oil and gas-focused private equity company has 100% control of the group, which has operations in Aberdeen, Norway, Europe, Singapore, the Middle East and the US.
The move comes as Stavanger-based HitecVision looks to develop Reef along two core areas – dredging and excavation, and integrated projects.
“The team at Reef Subsea are very pleased to have HitecVision as main shareholder,” said Reef chief executive Duncan MacPherson.
“HitecVision have shown commitment to work with the management at Reef Subsea to create value for all stakeholders. We look forward to a continued strong working relationship as we grow the business into a leading subsea contractor.”
Reef, which has a significant base in Altens in Aberdeen as part of its North Sea operations, will continue to hold charters for the Polar King and Polar Prince from GC Rieber, with Reef retaining options to extend their current contracts.
GC Rieber chief executive Irene Waage Basili said the sale to HitecVision was part of a refocusing of the shipping firm.
“We see exciting opportunities in ice/support, subsea and also within seismic,” she said.
“We have to exploit our strong financial position, by selectively pursuing growth opportunities we believe will provide the best return.”
In a statement, Hitec-Vision, which holds stakes in a range of firms including North Sea explorers Oyster Petroleum and Spike Exploration, said: “With the improved market conditions and a restructuring of the businesses, we firmly believe that Reef will be a good investment with a significant potential in the market.”
The Stavanger investor group, led by founders Ole Ertvaag and Ola Sætre, manages four funds with total capital of £1.8billion.
The firm said 85% of its funding comes from investors from outside of Norway and includes institutions and sovereign wealth funds.
The Aberdeen-based Rotech group of companies sold its subsea business to the Norwegian firm Reef in 2011.