Norvestor to buy controlling stake in Marine Aluminium

Oslo based private equity firm Norvestor has agreed to invest in Marine Aluminium, which designs, engineers and fabricates aluminium structures and products for the oil and gas and maritime industries.

Following the deal, the firm’s Norvestor V fund will become the largest shareholder in Marine Aluminium with around 70% of the shares. The current owners, Jan Johannesen and Arild Frøkedal, will retain a 30% ownership.

Marine Aluminium is located in Karmøy and Stord, on the West Coast of Norway, and in Ningbo, China. The company has 134 employees in Norway and 27 in China. Estimated revenues for 2011 are around NOK 300m (USD 51 million).

The company’s main products are aluminium-based access and safety structures, such as helidecks and telescopic gangways. Historically, these products have been steel based, but aluminium-based structures are gaining increased acceptance, also outside of the North Sea, due to significant weight savings and attractive life cycle cost.

Weight reduction is an issue for most vessels, rigs, floaters and platforms, as it enables asset owners to improve the performance of the assets.

Trond Bjørnøy a partner in Norvestor Equity and chairman designate in Marine Aluminium said that “Marine Aluminium is a company with an attractive position and strong brand name within niche markets of the oil and gas industry. This position has been nurtured over several decades through quality deliveries to a broad range of customers, and has been further perfected through the achievements of the current management team. We look forward to building on the solid foundation of the company, and together with management continue to develop the Company both organically and through selected acquisitions.”

Mr Jan Johannesen CEO of Marine Aluminium added that “We are currently experiencing high demand for most of our core products, and we are well positioned for the expected growth in the oil and gas markets both in the North Sea and abroad.

“Our ambition now is to harness our strong position in the home market and increase our footprint, brand and market share in key geographic areas such as China, Asia Pacific and Brazil. In order to realise these growth plans we are very pleased to have teamed up with Norvestor, bringing valuable skills, capital and other resources to the continued development of Marine Aluminium.”