Newton Aycliffe subsea tech provider acquires leading competitor in £6.5m deal

Technology provider of subsea protection systems Tekmar Group has signed a sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of Pipeshield for £6.5m.

Pipeshield is part of the provision of patented subsea concrete mattress protection systems.

This is said to be a significant deal for Newton Aycliffe-based Tekmar, as Pipeshield’s assets include revenue and profit-before-tax figures of £6.6m and £0.8m respectively - in the year to December 31, 2018.

As of August 31, 2019, Pipeshield had net assets of around £3.1m, including £1.1m cash, £3m trade debtors and about £1.3m trade creditors.

A consideration of £6.5m, payable in cash, is in agreement with the founder and managing director of Pipeshield, Steven Howlett.

He said: “Tekmar and Pipeshield have many similarities. We are industry-leading technology providers within subsea protection and share a similar history and culture.

“I am keen to see the business progress and believe that being part of Tekmar will accelerate the achievement of our long-held growth aspirations.

“I want to thank the Pipeshield team for all its hard work, getting us to this point, and highlight, to my staff and customers, that this change in ownership will only increase the opportunities for the business and our passion for delivering outstanding technical solutions. Other than that, it’s very much business as usual.”

An opportunity has also arisen for Tekmar Energy to extend the number of protection products it offers to existing customers for offshore projects.

This consideration will be satisfied via £3m in cash and £0.75m through the issue of 573,833 new ordinary shares in Tekmar itself to the seller (Steven Howlett) on completion.

This is the group’s third acquisition since its admission to AIM in June 2018.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →