Dunedin backs £69m MBO of EV Offshore

Alice Murray
25 June 2014

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Dunedin has invested ТЃ69m in the management buyout of EV Offshore, a company previously supported by Lime Rock Partners.

With the support of Lime Rock, EV increased its turnover by 20 times, from £1m in 2010 to £20m in 2014. The company also expanded internationally, setting up operations in Alaska and New Zealand among other locations.

Following this latest deal, Dunedin will support EV's continued global expansion and broaden its product range. According to Dunedin investment director, Oliver Bevan, the main focus will be to increase EV's penetration in markets it has recently expanded into. EV will also look to add further down-hole sensor technologies to broaden its product range.

Dunedin invested from its latest fund, Dunedin Buyout Fund III, which closed on £300m in July 2013.

Debt
Dunedin financed the deal using its DebtBridge solution. Dunedin will look to refinance this debt over the coming weeks and is already in talks with several banks.

Previous investment
In March 2011, Lime Rock invested £6m in EV, according to unquote" data.

Company
EV Offshore manufactures down-hole video cameras, used to diagnose and analyse problems in oil and gas wells.

The company was founded in 2000 by technical director Jonathan Thursby. It is based in Aberdeen with R&D and manufacturing facilities in Norwich. EV is also present in 17 further locations globally including the US, Canada, West Africa and the Middle East. The company employs 100 people.

EV currently generates turnover of £20m, a significant increase from £1m generated in 2010, highlighting the high growth of the company.

People
Jonathan Thursby founded EV, while Francis Neill is its CEO. Dougal Bennett, partner of Dunedin, joins EV's board as part of the deal, as does investment director Oliver Bevan. Trevor Burgess is managing director of Lime Rock.

Advisers
Equity – CMS Cameron McKenna (Legal); Calash (Commercial due diligence); EY (Financial due diligence); Simmons & Co (Corporate finance); Intuitus (IT due diligence).
Management – Mills & Reeve (Legal); Evercore (Corporate finance); PwC (Tax).
Vendor – Burness Paull (Legal).