TMCnet News
New owner plans offshore growth [Evening Gazette (UK)](Evening Gazette (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) AN OFFSHORE subsea trenching specialist is hoping to expand its footprint in the green energy market with a new owner Previously Darlington-based CTC Marine operated within the US-headquartered Trico Marine Group. But now CTC has been separated from its parent and has become part of a new Norway-based company, DeepOcean Group Holding. The move was a result of a radical restructuring of Trico, which had been forced to hive off parts of its business to reduce debt - thought to be around $1bn (pounds 619m). CTC said the move had given it a new owner with significantly lower debts and a strong foothold in the burgeoning renewable energy market. Pierre Boyde, CTC commercial and business development director, said: "We don't have much debt hanging over us and the debts we do have are easily serviceable. "Everyone involved saw the underlying value of our business. We're already active in the renewables market but now we have the financial backing to go out and get more work - particularly in offshore wind." CTC already has a presence in that sector, winning installation and trenching work for 80 infield cables on BARD Offshore 1 - the first commercial offshore wind farm off the North Sea coast of Germany. It has also won a recent contract on the Greater Gabbard Wind Farm project off the Suffolk coast. The work will help CTC in its quest to increase its pounds 100m annual turnover by 10-15%. With an order book stretching into next year, it is currently exploring opportunities in Asia - the Korean market in particular - and closer to home in the North Sea. It is also likely to look at Mexico, Brazil and Australia as its new parent has operations in these countries. CTC has gone through several changes of ownership since it was first launched by Charles Tompkins and John Johnson in 1993. In 2000, telecom company Alcatel took over the firm but, three years later, the founders bought the company back. In January 2007, the company was bought for pounds 75m by DeepOcean and, in 2008, it was bought by oil multinational Trico Marine Services for around pounds 400m. Former CTC managing director Daryl Lynch, who had been in the post for less than two years, resigned in October last year. A permanent replacement has yet to be appointed. (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |