Stavanger, 17th April 2007:
HitecVision Private Equity has today entered into an agreement to acquire 49% of the Sørco Group, a major provider of systems and services to the Norwegian and international oil and gas industry.
The Sørco Group is a privately held group of independent companies based in Stavanger, Norway. Major companies in the group include Sørco, Leirvik Module Technology, Maritime Systems, Teknisk Bureau and Nemo Engineering. The companies supply a wide range of technologies and services to the oil and gas industry, with some additional activities in other industries.
The Group has shown consistent growth over the past years. Revenues have more than doubled since 2004, looking to exceed NOK 1.6 billion (USD 270 million) in 2007. Based on a strong market and record order books, growth is expected to continue in the years to come. The Group employs about 1000 people.
“We are very happy to have HitecVision as a partner for Sørco’s future. Their financial capability combined with our operational experience will provide great strength in developing the group to be an important player in the offshore oil and gas industry. In addition we are proud to see two local companies joining forces in this way”, says Michael Nygaard, Chairman of Sørco.
“We have followed the impressive development of the Sørco Group for several years, and are very excited about this co-operation. In Sørco we see several strong platforms for future growth, and we look forward to working with Michael and his team to develop these.”, states Ole Ertvaag, CEO of HitecVision.
HitecVision’s investment will be made from the fund HitecVision Private Equity IV LP. Final closing of the transaction is expected in May, subject to a satisfactory due diligence.
