Phoenix Equity Partners ("Phoenix"), the leading UK mid-market private equity firm, is pleased to announce two further acquisitions by ASCO Group, the Aberdeen based international oil and gas logistics specialist: Seletar Shipping, and HFS Liquid Waste. This brings to seven the number of bolt-on acquisitions completed by ASCO since its purchase by Phoenix in 2006. The aggregate consideration paid for these bolt-on acquisitions is £34m.
Seletar, also based in Aberdeen, provides ships agency and related services to clients in the offshore, freight management and logistics sectors. The acquisition of Seletar by ASCO will provide a platform for the international development of its marine services division.
ASCO Chief Executive Billy Allan said: "Over the last two years, we have been developing our logistics activities in Trinidad, Canada, Norway and Azerbaijan. The next step is to launch our marine capabilities in these markets and the Seletar deal gives us the scale needed for this."
ASCO’s waste management subsidiary, Enviroco, has acquired HFS Liquid Waste, the Norfolk based industrial cleaning and bulk liquid waste management services company. This will strengthen Enviroco’s presence and drive its high growth aspirations in this key market sector in England.
Commenting on the two deals, Richard Daw, Partner at Phoenix, said: "We are very excited by both acquisitions made by ASCO - they will add enormous value in terms of ASCO’s offering to existing clients, as well as increasing its reach to potential clients. They will also strengthen ASCO’s platform for future growth."
Phoenix acquired ASCO in 2006 in a £124m transaction, since when, in addition to the Seletar and HFS acquisitions, ASCO has purchased businesses in Canada, Norway, Azerbaijan and in the UK itself.