CHAMP Ventures exits TSmarine

The asset at play is TSmarine Asia Pacific, a Perth-based global subsea specialist oil and gas services provider originally established in 2006. The business proved profitable from the beginning, but its growth prospects were held in check by the distressed state of its former UK parent. That changed in November 2009, when funds managed by CHAMP Ventures (largely Australian superannuation players) partnered with TSmarine's incumbent management team, led by CEO John Edwards, to execute an MBO.

The specifics of TSmarine's services cover critical aspects of the life span of undersea oil and gas fields, including subsea well intervention and abandonment, along with construction, inspection repair and maintenance (IRM). The BP-Gulf of Mexico disaster underscored the importance and value of these services. And in addition, TSmarine provides seabed-based deepwater drilling and coring, plus project management and engineering.

Since the CHAMP MBO, the company has expanded the previously small customer base to include most major operators. And their focus on well intervention, light construction and lower-end IRM has since expanded to include large construction and geotechnical projects. At the same time their contracted backlog has increased ten-fold.

Market reach has also expanded geographically; what they once did successfully for Australian clients is now offered region-wide throughout Asia, and most recently has added an emerging European presence. Additionally, their fleet of high specification vessels has doubled.

All of this amounted to a perfect fit for buyer Fugro, a global company established in Amsterdam in 1962, and long listed on the Euronext bourse there. Fugro operates across the oil & gas, mining and construction industries in three main divisions: geotechnical, survey and geosciences. Its primary focus in the collection and interpretation of data relating to the earth's surface, soils and the rock underneath.

Synergy potential between the two is seen as substantial. TSmarine's strong market position in Asia-Pacific, plus niche services, nicely enhance Fugro's existing capabilities and global network of clients and vessels. TSmarine - and its management - will become part of the subsea group in Fugro's survey division. They will be re-branded Fugro TSM.

"Our strong and supportive relationship with CHAMP Ventures enabled us to grow our potential in a very difficult marketplace," says John Edwards.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Australasia
• CHAMP Private Equity