Clarkson acquires offshore oil industry tool supplier

1st Nov 2013 08:18

Shipping services group Clarkson has acquired specialist North Sea oil industry tool supplier Gibb Tools. The Fully Listed group will pay up to £12.7m for its Aberdeen-based acquisition, including an initial £6.2m mostly in cash, with further cash payments in coming months and years.Clarkson said it estimated that Gibb, which reported a pre-tax profit of £1.8m in the year to end-March 2013, will enhance group pre-tax profit by £2.0m per year before acquisition-related costs. Gibb, which also has an office in Ghana, is mainly focused on supplying engineering tools to the North Sea oil industry, expanding quickly over the last decade to its current internationally based customer base.Clarkson said the acquisition complemented its port and agency strategy, much increasing its client offer and "significantly" increasing its capability to tender for larger offshore and renewable contracts. Shares in Clarkson were up 1.5% to 2,046p at 08:15 on Friday.OH