Cathay's SeaOwl acquires Wellstaff

Cathay did not provide additional financing to support the acquisition. The Sino-French investment fund acquired a minority stake in SeaOwl in early 2015 in a transaction that consisted of fresh capital and a partial cash-out of existing shareholders. Market sources placed Cathay's contribution around the €15m mark at the time, with capital drawn from the firm's Cathay Capital II and Sino French SME funds.

The bolt-on follows the acquisition of Fortiori by SeaOwl in 2013. SeaOwl will now merge Fortiori, Wellstaff and its Nexource subsidiary to create the SeaOwl Energy Services group in order to better focus on the energy market.

The newly created entity will look at further acquisitions and several senior hires.

Company
Founded in 2008 as part of the V Ships group, SeaOwl became independent in 2012. It provides asset management and technical assistance to the shipping, defence and energy industries. SeaOwl is based in France with a presence in south-east Asia and Africa.

Also based in France, Wellstaff provides technical assistance to the energy sector and posted a €33.5m turnover in its most recent financial year.

People
SeaOwl – David Thomas (managing director).

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