Hunting acquires offshore oil systems firm FES

(Sharecast News) - Hunting announced the acquisition of Flexible Engineered Solutions Group (FES), a UK-based provider of fluid transfer systems for offshore oil, gas and renewable energy markets, in a £50m all-cash deal aimed at accelerating its push into subsea technologies on Tuesday. The FTSE 250 company said the acquisition aligned with the 'Hunting 2030 Strategy', expanding its offshore and subsea capabilities, particularly in deepwater markets.

It said FES technologies were widely used in floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) and subsea distribution systems, with Hunting highlighting opportunities for product bundling and cross-selling across its existing offshore client base.

Hunting said the acquisition was expected to be earnings accretive in the first full year of ownership, excluding acquisition costs and standard adjustments.

The deal was funded from existing cash reserves, and the senior management team at FES, who were also the principal sellers, would remain with the group for at least 12 months.

FES would operate within Hunting's subsea technologies division under managing director Dane Tipton.

"We are pleased to complete the acquisition of FES," said chief executive Jim Johnson.

"It immediately boosts our subsea portfolio with proprietary products and capabilities and clearly demonstrates progress on our Hunting 2030 Strategy.

"FES's blue-chip customer base, international profile and high margin, mission critical applications make the business an ideal fit for Hunting."

Based in Ashington, Northumberland, FES operates from a 35,000 square foot main facility and a separate testing site.

The company's solutions have been deployed globally, including in the Gulf of Mexico, South America and West Africa, with the majority of its revenue derived from international projects.

Its customers include supermajors and leading energy service firms.

For the year ended 31 December 2024, FES generated unaudited revenue of £31.3m and EBITDA of £6.7m on an adjusted basis.

The firm reported a sales order book of about £11.8m at completion, with a pipeline of tenders exceeding £100m.

Hunting said it was continuing to review its capital allocation priorities following the acquisition, with further updates expected in the coming weeks.

As of completion, the group reported a cash and bank balance of around $40m.

At 0926 BST, shares in Hunting were down 1.7% at 260p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.