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Combining strengths
Elekem acquired by Ensinger
Elekem Ltd, a specialist plastics engineering company, has been acquired by Ensinger Ltd, a market leading manufacturer of engineering plastics, in a transaction managed by international M&A advisor BCMS. Elekem Ltd is a specialist polymer processing and engineering company focused on the fabrication of PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) and PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) products for final machining. The UK-based company employs a range of specifically developed processing techniques to produce its products, which are sold worldwide into a diverse range of industries including energy services, food, fluid handling, paper manufacturing, and chemical plant servicing.
The acquirer, Ensinger Ltd, is a UK market leader in the manufacture of high performance and engineering plastics, semi-finished stock shapes and profiles, and in the machining of plastic finished components. The company operates nine sites across England, Wales and Scotland and is part of the Ensinger worldwide group, which employs a workforce of 2100 across 27 production and sales locations. Visit: www.ensinger.co.uk
KOTUG International BV has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Royal Boskalis Westminster NV (Boskalis) to merge their European harbour towage operations.
The decision is fully in line with KOTUG’s strategy and ambition to develop and increase its harbour towage footprint in Europe. This partnership involves a 50/50 joint venture between KOTUG and SMIT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boskalis. The geographic scope of the venture covers the European Harbour towage market which relates to KOTUG’s existing harbour towage activities in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK and SMIT’s harbour towage activities in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The combination will create a leading provider of harbour towage services in north-west Europe active in 11 ports and 4 countries with a fleet of approximately 60 harbour tugs, generating a total turnover of about €150 million. Besides operational synergies the joint venture will strengthen the market position of both companies.
KOTUG’s CEO Ard-Jan Kooren: “The combined operation will allow us to meet the increasing demands of our international joint clients in order to deliver more efficiency. In a market that is consolidating we can offer competitive services against the highest operational and safety standards within the industry.” Visit: www.kotug.com The Devon based design engineering firm, Supacat Group, has acquired local heavy fabrication and machining specialist Blackhill Engineering Services Ltd, providing Supacat with the ability to manufacture large structures. Supacat is part of the South West Marine Energy Park and the new capability will strengthen the South West’s supply chain in the Nuclear, Renewable Energy and associated markets.
The acquisition expands the in-house capability and capacity available within the Supacat Group and complements Supacat’s key activity of providing innovative engineering solutions to the challenges faced by specialist industries. Blackhill adds heavy engineering to Supacat’s existing light to medium engineering. It brings a 60-tonne lifting capability, a rare resource in the region, and an additional 28,000 sq ft of workshop space divided between fabrication, assembly and a large and small machine shop.
“The acquisition of Blackhill positions Supacat to collaborate on significantly larger renewable energy, nuclear and marine projects in the South West. It underlines our commitment to continuing the expansion of our renewables and marine business through appropriate teaming agreements, joint ventures or acquisitions,” said Nick Ames, managing director of Supacat Group. Visit: www.supacat.com
Supacat acquires Blackhill Engineering
ABB and Hitachi to form strategic power grid partnership
ABB and Hitachi have announced an agreement to form a joint venture for high voltage direct current (HVDC) system solutions in Japan. The new entity, to be based in Tokyo, will be responsible for the design, engineering, supply and after-sales services related to the DC system of HVDC projects bringing in ABB’s latest technologies to the Japanese market where Hitachi will be the prime contractor.
This is the first step of a strategic partnership between the two companies to contribute to the evolution of Japan’s power network. Hitachi and ABB will explore further strengthening of the relationship and address opportunities to widen the scope for future collaboration. “ABB pioneered HVDC 60 years ago and has continually pushed the boundaries of this technology,” said Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB. “We are proud to enter into this partnership with Hitachi, with a solid reputation and extensive, 100-year experience in the Japanese market.” Visit: www.abb.com
LINKINGUP
Technip to purchase Zimmer Polymer Technologies Vattenfall and Skandia
Technip has entered into an agreement with Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Germany to purchase all of its Zimmer® polymer technology business. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, the business includes technologies for the processing of polyesters and polyamides, research and development facilities, and a team of around 40 skilled engineers, researchers and project teams.
Technip plans to integrate the new polymers technology business through Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, the Onshore global business unit formed in 2012 to manage the company’s expanding portfolio of downstream process technologies.
Stan Knez, senior vice-president, Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, commented: “The state-of-the-art Zimmer polymer technology portfolio and the team’s 60 years of experience in the industry will reinforce our focus on technology as a way to differentiate us from our competitors. We look forward to welcoming this talented group to the Technip team.” Visit: www.technip.com
build wind power together
Mexichem completes acquisition of Vestolit
Mexichem, S.A.B. de C.V. has completed the acquisition of VESTOLIT GmbH. Mexichem completed the acquisition after receiving all relevant regulatory approvals. Vestolit was acquired from funds managed by Strategic Value Partners LLC for a total purchase price of €219 million euros in cash and assumed liabilities.
Based in Marl, Germany, VESTOLIT is Europe’s only manufacturer of High Impact Suspension PVC (HIS-PVC) for weather-resistant windows and is Europe’s second largest producer of paste PVC for floors and wallpapers. VESTOLIT also produces alkyl-chlorides, a value-added intermediary used for a variety of chemical and industrial applications and is vertically integrated in a single site from Salt through Specialty PVC. Total installed PVC capacity is 415,000 tons per year.
Mexichem views this transaction as an opportunity to expand its European footprint, enter a new market segment and acquire new technology and best practices. VESTOLIT will continue to operate under its current management and with its existing portfolio of branded products. Visit: www.vestolit.de Vattenfall and Skandia are jointly investing almost two billion Swedish kronor to set up four wind farms in Sweden with a total output of 141 MW. The farms will be run by a jointly owned company. This is the first time that a Swedish pension company is directly financing the construction of new Swedish wind power capacity, and the cooperation enables faster expansion of a sustainable energy system.
“Vattenfall is investing in renewable energy, and the joint investment with Skandia will allow its expansion in Sweden to take place at a faster rate. That is good for our respective customers, and it’s good for Sweden,” says Magnus Hall, Vattenfall’s CEO.
The four wind power projects are Hjuleberg (Falkenberg municipality), Höge Väg (Kristianstad municipality), Juktan (Sorsele municipality) and Högabjär-Kärsås (Falkenberg municipality). The first of these is already in operation and was handed over to the joint holding company on 1 January 2015. The other wind farms are being built by Vattenfall and will be handed over to the joint company in the first quarter of 2016. Visit: www.vattenfall.com
Balfour Beatty completes acquisition of offshore transmission project
Balfour Beatty has completed the acquisition of the £164 million Thanet offshore transmission project (OFTO) in the UK. It will invest over £20 million of equity.
The Thanet OFTO, previously operated by Vattenfall, is the high-voltage electricity transmission system connecting the 300MW Thanet Wind Farm, off the coast of Kent, to the onshore transmission grid, generating enough electricity for around 200,000 homes each year. The assets include one offshore and one onshore substation and over 50km of subsea cables. Balfour Beatty’s Services division is responsible for the assets’ operations and maintenance under a licence granted by Ofgem with a 20-year revenue stream.
Steve Marshall, executive chairman, said: “For the Investments business, the offshore transmission market is an important part of its strategy to diversify into new markets and achieving financial close on our second project is a great success. This supports our wider strategy of developing our delivery capability in the offshore renewables industry.” Visit: www.balfourbeatty.com
