Glacier Heats Up

International oilfield specialist Glacier Energy Services continues its impressive growth with the acquisition of Ross Offshore.

Maven has this week supported a further acquisition by its portfolio company Glacier Energy Services, with the acquisition of Ross Offshore. Aberdeen-based Ross has been trading for over 30 years and offers complementary services to the existing capability of Glacier’s offshore division, providing heat exchanger repair and refurbishment services to oil and gas customers.

This acquisition will allow Glacier to accelerate its already impressive growth and support the process of developing the group into a specialist full-service engineering solutions business for the global energy market, with the aim of achieving revenues in excess of £25m within three years.

Maven originally invested when Glacier was formed in 2011 to acquire Roberts Pipeline Machining and Wellclad. Roberts designs and manufactures precision on-site portable cutting machines, offering a fast and economical solution to the machining needs of blue chip oil and gas clients, while Wellclad provides weld overlay and cladding services for offshore subsea equipment. The business had an established track-record and a strong international presence in key global energy markets including the North Sea, Middle East and West Africa.

The vision for the new Glacier business was to provide customers with world-class technologies and exceptional service, while expanding its range of services through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Glacier Energy Services' Offshore (Roberts) and Engineering (Wellclad) divisions now have combined turnover of more than £14m, and employ more than 100 staff, across the North Sea and international markets, from operational bases in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle and Singapore.

In June 2012 Glacier acquired Newcastle-based Site Machining Services (SMS), a specialist provider of on-site machining to the global oil and gas industry, which had enjoyed significant growth and offers a wide range of machining services to the offshore market, construction yards and the petrochemicals industry. That acquisition was the first step in enhancing Glacier’s ability to meet rising international demand for specialist engineering solutions. The acquisition of SMS was the second major investment Glacier made in north-east England in less than a year following the move of its Wellclad business to larger premises in Bolden, Newcastle, which helped create 22 new jobs.

As part of Glacier’s continued drive for growth, the group relocated its main business and manufacturing operations last year to customised new-build facilities in Glasgow, increasing its capacity and capability to meet demand on its key products and services.

And more recently in July 2013 Glacier opened its first international base, in Singapore, with workshop and warehouse facilities to support on-going growth across the Asia-Pacific region, where it already has an extensive client base and has seen major growth and rising demand for its equipment and specialist onsite technicians.