American group buys out Baric Systems
Sep 7 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
A NORTHUMBERLAND engineering firm with 100 staff and annual sales of £14m has been bought by a publicly-listed American company.
Baric Systems, based in Morpeth with a plant in Blyth, supplies high- specification fluid handling systems for lubrication applications in the oil and gas, petrochemical and power generation markets.
It has customers across Europe, the Middle East and Asia and it will now operate on a global scale after its purchase by New York Stock Exchange-listed company Colfax, which is based in Richmond, Virginia. A global leader in fluid-handling products and technologies it works in many of the same sectors as Baric.
Colfax, with annual revenues of $525m, employs around 2,000 people worldwide and has 13 production sites in seven countries. Baric, which has an order book worth in excess of £28m, will be the corporation’s first facility in the UK. As part of the deal, Baric managing director Eric Dodd stays on
Baric’s customers include blue-chip multinationals such as Dow Chemicals, Hitachi Industries, ExxonMobil and Rolls Royce. Clay H Kiefaber, president and CEO of Colfax, said: “We’re very excited to add Baric to our portfolio of leading global brands.
“Baric is an excellent fit and complements our highly engineered solutions business. Baric is known for manufacturing quality, high-spec lube oil systems and has a large installed base in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“With the addition of Baric, we are able to offer customers a broader range of custom engineered lubrication systems worldwide. Expanding our global systems capability is a key part of our long-term growth strategy, and we look forward to the continued expansion of our systems business with the addition of Baric.”
Newcastle-based law firm Ward Hadaway provided legal advice to the shareholders of Baric Group on its sale to Colfax . Corporate finance partner Robert Thompson led the firm’s team with assistance from members of its employment, property, tax, banking and IT teams.
He said: “Baric Group has grown to become a real international player in its field in the offshore oil and gas sector thanks to its leading edge technology and the vision of its senior team. Its acquisition by a company with the size and reach of the Colfax Corporation is a testament to how well Baric has been run and how successful it has been.”
KPMG provided financial advice to Baric Group shareholders on the deal with RW Baird acting as corporate financial advisors. Chris Stott, associate partner, KPMG transaction services, said: “Baric Group has built world-leading technology and Colfax’s recent acquisition is both recognition of this and the increasing attractiveness of UK assets to overseas acquirors given current exchange rates. Advised locally, this is a great example of the strength of the local adviser community in the North East.”
