Gresham Capital has sold its majority stake in Aberdeen’s ICR Integrity in a deal thought to be worth up to £60million including debt.
The tertiary buyout by mid-market private equity firm Graphite Capital values the oil and gas services company at between £80million to £100million.
Following the deal, which was backed by HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the existing management team, including chief executive Willie Rennie, chief operating officer Andy Bruce and finance director Gordon Davidson, will remain in place. Bob Forbes has also been appointed as the company’s Executive Chairman.
ICR was formed by Gresham in July 2011 to buy out Walker Technical from Maven Capital in a deal reported to be worth £15million. Maven had backed its initial sale by John “Tiny” Langler in June 2009.
Since 2011, staff numbers at ICR have grown from 45 to over 170. The company said it was on track to reach turnover of £30million this year, almost a third more than last year when it reported revenues of £20.3million and pre-tax profits of £2.9million in the year to the end of March 2013.
The firm followed a “buy and build” strategy over the last three years, expanding the firm into Dubai and Perth in addition to its locations across Aberdeen, Ellon and in Kendal. Its most recent acquisition was Ellon-based Chemical Injection Utilities.
Mr Rennie said: “We are delighted with the success of our growth strategy and with the support we have received from Gresham and HSBC. From the outset Gresham has supported our vision for ICR and its ‘buy and build’ approach. We are now ready to take ICR to the next phase.”
Iain Wolstenholme, the partner who led the initial investment and exit for Gresham, said: “We are very proud of ICR’s growth under our ownership.”