Equistone secures 2.9x return on PD&MS exit

Equistone Partners Europe has exited PD&MS, the fast-growing specialist provider of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services for the global oil and gas industry, in a secondary buyout to Inflexion.

The mid-market private equity firm has achieved a 2.9x return on total investment after it backed the management buyout in 2010.

Founded in 2002 by its current management team, PD&MS Energy operates in an attractive, growing, niche market and serves the drilling, production and marine sectors. Its core capability is ‘brownfield’ design engineering services, utilising sophisticated project planning and design software tools to service drilling and production operators throughout the oil and gas market.

PD&MS Energy employs more than 200 onshore personnel at locations in Aberdeen, Dundee, Great Yarmouth, Brazil and Baku, Azerbaijan. The company has demonstrated strong growth under Equistone’s ownership and delivered a record turnover of £47m in 2013 and aims to double its business by 2016.  It has embedded customer relationships with major blue chip operators such as BP and CNR.

Steve O’Hare, former non-exec at PD&MS and partner at Equistone in Manchester, said: “PD&MS’s performance has been impressive and we’re pleased to have worked with management to grow the business, including establishing an international presence. We are confident that the management team will continue to develop its core services in the drilling, production and marine sectors, while strengthening its market position in global engineering.”

Simon Rio, CEO of PD&MS Energy, said: “Our business is rapidly becoming known for delivering a consistent and robust range of technical services and solutions tailored to our customers’ needs. Equistone has supported us through two rounds of investment, enabling us to strengthen our services and drive growth in both the North Sea and more recently internationally. This has created an excellent platform to build the business further and we look forward to the next stage of growth.”

Stuart Warriner and Jon Shelley at PwC provided corporate finance advice, while Gregg Davison and James Fitzgibbon at Pinsent Masons provided legal advice to PD&MS.

Jodi Birkett at Deloitte provided financial due diligence to the company, while tax due diligence was led by David O’Leary at Deloitte.