85 jobs secured as Aldridge engineering firm is sold to Avingtrans for £1
THE jobs of 85 workers at an Aldridge engineering company have been secured after the business was sold to aerospace group Avingtrans for a token £1.
Avingtrans, which also serves the global energy and medical sectors, has purchased the entire issued share capital of Exterran (UK) Ltd, the UK operations base of US-based Exterran.
In the financial year ended December 31, 2012, Exterran UK reported revenue of £16.3m but made an adjusted pre-tax loss of £0.5m, which included an adjustment for a loss-making contract which was substituted following the year-end.
The Westgate-based factory designs, fabricates and installs products for the global oil and gas market, including equipment solutions for petroleum production, gas processing, produced water treatment and aftermarket parts and services.
The business has traded in the UK for many years and has been a long standing customer of Metalcraft.
Avingtrans said it aimed to integrate the business into its Energy and Medical division and would rename the business as Maloney Metalcraft Ltd. This is being done in an attempt to reinvigorate a previously well-known brand name in the market sector. Its key customers include: Petrofac, Talisman, Porvair, EDF and Shell.
Avingtrans said the said it believed the acquisition complemented its existing capabilities within its energy offering and would provide cross selling opportunities.
It will also enable the company to pitch for larger projects once the business is fully integrated.
The Avingtrans board said it believed the experience and capability of the Exterran UK engineering team would also provide additional expertise as the group looked to increase its product offering and grow the division.
Exterran UK is being acquired with a cash balance of £2m, which management believes will be sufficient to fund the turnaround of the business, and on completion is expected to have net assets of circa £1.2m.
The company expects Exterran UK to at least break even in the year ending May 31, 2015 and be earnings enhancing thereafter.
Steve McQuillan, Chief Executive of Avingtrans said: “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Exterran UK which has a strong pedigree. This addition to the Avingtrans Group reinforces our plan to build the business around our two core divisions; Metalcraft (Energy and Medical) and Sigma (Aerospace) and provides scale and expertise in the attractive Energy marketplace.
“We are delighted that they will be joining the group and are confident of our combined future success.”
