Senergy buys US marine engineering company
Jul 30 2010 by John Hill, The Journal
GREEN energy services company Senergy Alternative Energy says its acquisition of American firm SGC Engineering will be the first of several in the US market.
The Aberdeen company, which employs 40 staff at its Newcastle office and more than 500 as a whole, completed the acquisition of the Maine-based business yesterday.
It will become a subsidiary of its new US company Senergy Alternative Energy Inc.
Senergy managing director Nial McCollam said: “We started our renewable and alternative energy strategy about two years ago and our goal was to work in international markets.
“We began in the UK and Europe but 12 months ago we decided to look for specific opportunities in the US market. The acquisition is our first tangible result in this process, but we have other acquisition opportunities in discussion at the moment.”
Senergy bought Tyndedale energy firm Econnect in 2008 and moved its North East office from Hexham to the Quayside in July last year.
Senergy’s plans for the 70-strong American firm include taking Senergy’s carbon capture and storage capabilities into the US market, as well as its experience in offshore wind projects in the UK and Europe.
McCollam sees the US as “an incredibly important market from a renewables perspective” and is looking to pursue further acquisitions over the next two or three years.
As well as giving Senergy a foothold in the US, it will also allow the company to develop SGC’s core businesses in power transmission and distribution, gas distribution and wind power developments.
McCollam said: “Our ultimate goal is to be able to offer a fully integrated service to clients, from working out the details of a potential project to the detailed mechanical and electrical engineering that follows.
“We need good coverage across several quadrants of the US for us to be a significant player in the longer term.
“What we will do is look at companies that are similar to SGC but in a different geographical area. We’re obviously interested in other areas such as opportunities in environmental assessments and planning support services that help our clients through the early stages from a planning perspective, and we have other interests in the wind power sector.
“We have been very clear in putting the word out to SGC staff that this is a positive acquisition. It’s about accelerating growth, not downsizing.”
McCollam said: “It continues to be a healthy market in the UK. The last 12 to 18 months has been a challenging time for the economy as a whole but thankfully the energy sector has done well compared to other sectors.”
