James Fisher buys Norwegian rival

MARINE services provider James Fisher and Sons has bought a Norwegian rival for £11.5m.

The company, which is headquartered in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, has purchased Stavanger-based GMC Produkt AS.

The purchase will complement James Fisher’s existing winch and bespoke lift equipment business named Scan Tech AS and offers the potential to offer a wider product range to its established clients.

GMC Produkt AS provides lifting equipment, cranes, winches and spooling, certification, maintenance and other related services to the Norwegian offshore, rig and oilfield services markets.

It employs 30 people and had a turnover of £9.3m to the end of last December with pre-tax profits of £1.5m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of £1.8m.

It also had gross assets of £5.4 million on December 31, 2009.

Tim Harris, chairman of James Fisher, said: “GMCP will strengthen our existing successful Stavanger-based business and provide our customers with a wider range of lifting products and services.”

The deal is subject to mandatory approval by the Competition Authority in Norway.