James Fisher and Sons Regulatory News (FSJ)

16 Sep 2005 07:00

Fisher (James) & Sons PLC16 September 2005 James Fisher and Sons plc ('James Fisher' or 'the Company'): £10.75 million UK Acquisition James Fisher, the marine services company, announces that it has signed anagreement, subject to due diligence, for the acquisition of the business andrelated companies of the privately-owned Aberdeen and Stavanger basedpartnership Monyana Engineering Services ("Monyana") for a consideration of£10.75 million in cash. The consideration will be funded out of existingresources. Monyana is the market leader in refurbishing, designing and supplying a largerange of hydraulic winches and marine equipment for rental and sale to the oilfield services industry. Its acquisition provides James Fisher with a muchincreased penetration in a market segment in which its Scan Tech subsidiariesare already active in both the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. Itrepresents a major step for the Marine Services Division, as well as asubstantial expansion of the company's activities in Aberdeen and Norway,continuing to build on the core expertise of applying operational andengineering skills in the marine sector. The consideration for Monyana of £10.75 million will be paid in cash oncompletion. In the year ended 31 March 2005, Monyana had a turnover of £5.3million and a pre-tax profit of £1.6 million. Gross Assets at that date amountedto £5.3 million. Monyana has a total of 38 employees at its main location in Oldmeldrum nearAberdeen, together with eleven acres of freehold warehousing and storagefacilities and a regional office in Stavanger, Monyana Eurotech AS. Monyana isalso UK agent for the distribution of products from Ingersoll Rand, the US basedwinch and hoist manufacturer. Tim Harris, Chairman of James Fisher, said: "The acquisition substantially strengthens James Fisher's growing Marine SupportServices Division which, for the year ended 31 December 2004, contributed 46% ofthe Company's operating profit against 15% two years ago and represented 27% ofassets employed. It complements and overlays our existing businesses inAberdeen and Stavanger, providing quality services to the offshore industry." The founding partners, Jim Rogerson and Sandra Rogerson and Jake Lorimer, said: "We established Monyana in 1984 and have grown it to become a market leader. InJames Fisher we are confident that we have found the right strategic home forMonyana and our employees. We are committed to remaining with the business andgrowing it further within James Fisher". Jim Rogerson and Jake Lorimer, will remain with the business and the companywill continue to operate from its original base. EC Hambro Rabben and Partners Ltd acted as corporate finance advisors to JamesFisher for the acquisition. ENDS For further information, please contact: James Fisher and Sons plc 020 7338 5808Tim Harris, Chairman Monyana Engineering ServicesJim Rogerson, Partner 01651 873 932Jake Lorimer, Partner 01651 873 932 EC Hambro Rabben & PartnersEivind Rabben 020 7355 4100Peter Donald 020 7355 4100 Binns & Co PRPeter Binns 020 7153 1477/ 07768 392 582Paul McManus 020 7153 1485/ 07980 541 893 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange