Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The acquisition of three Scotland-based companies by Acteon has taken the Norfolk offshore oil and gas specialist's new company count for the last 18 months to seven and lifted revenues by £70 million to £200m.

Acteon completed the acquisition of Seatronics, International Mooring Systems (IMS) and Chain Corporation International (ChainCo) from the Aberdeen-based Craig Group for an undisclosed amount. The company said that though it was prepared for further purchases, none were planned for the immediate future.

"We are an acquisitive business and though there are some opportunities in the pipeline, there are no imminent announcements," said Paul Alcock, vice-president marketing and business integration at Acteon. "We want to grow Acteon's service offering and geographical footprint."

Acteon's buying spree kicked off at the beginning of 2006 with Mirage Machines, followed by Aquatic Engineering and Trident Offshore six months later, Pacific Management Technologies Inc (PMTI) last month and the three new companies this week.

"The acquisitions of the last 18 months have added £70 million in revenues to the company. Last year we generated £130m and that stands at over £200m this year," said Alcock.

The activities of IMS and ChainCo fall in line with existing Acteon companies InterMoor and Trident and the two new companies will considerably improve Acteon's overall offering in the moorings market.

Seatronics, however, takes Acteon into the advanced marine survey sector, which is new ground for the firm, though there are elements of the Seatronics business with which Acteon is very familiar.