Energy services provider Expro has agreed a deal to buy Aberdeenshire drilling tech firm Coretrax.
The Portlethen-based firm has been majority owned by private equity firm Buckthorn Partners since 2018, with a headcount of more than 300 people.
The $210m (166.24m) deal includes at least $75m (£59.37m) of cash and up to $6.75m (£5.34m) in Expro common shares.
Michael Jardon, Expro Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are thrilled to announce our proposed acquisition of Coretrax, and look forward to welcoming John Fraser and his teammates to the Expro family.
"Coretrax has a complementary offering to Expro with little overlap and will bolster the portfolio of technology-enabled services and solutions offered through our Well Construction and Well Intervention & Integrity product lines, adding significant value to our clients from innovative technologies that reduce risk and cost, optimize drilling efficiency, extend the life of existing well stock, and optimize production.
"The integration of Coretrax’s leading technologies will strengthen our foothold in ESSA and MENA where both companies have strong, established positions, and is expected to open new avenues for growth in NLA and Asia-Pacific.
"We look forward to leveraging the complementary capabilities and customer relationships of Expro and Coretrax to deliver additional value to our customers and other stakeholders."
Growing market share
The acquisition is designed to enable Expro to expand its portfolio of cost-effective, technology-enabled Well Construction and Well Intervention & Integrity solutions across the North and Latin America, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East and North Africa.
John Fraser, CEO at Coretrax, added: "I’m excited about the opportunities the acquisition brings for Coretrax and our team.
"The synergies between our respective technology portfolios will enable us to grow our market share while significantly increasing our capabilities to tackle the most complex well challenges.
"We are proud of the innovation-led approach, strong customer base and performance history that we developed over the last 15 years, and we look forward to joining forces with Expro to create greater value for our customers globally."