James Fisher acquires Martek Marine

James Fisher's acquisition of Martek has been announced in the City. Photo: Chris Radburn/PA Wire

James Fisher and Sons has announced the acquisition of Martek Holdings Limited and, separately, the acquisition of 60 per cent of the share capital of Murjan Al-Sharq for Marine Contracting LLC.

Marine services company James Fisher has acquired the entire share capital of Martek for an initial net cash consideration of £9m, with potential further consideration of up to £1m subject to a profit target for the year ending February 28, 2020.

Martek was founded in Rotherham in 2000 and provides a range of safety and calibration systems and products to the marine sector.

Unaudited profit after tax of Martek for the year ended February 28, 2018 was £1.8m and gross assets were £7.2m.

Nick Henry, the chief executive officer of James Fisher, said: “The acquisition of Martek further enhances James Fisher’s capability to offer innovative solutions to the marine sector and provides a proven channel to market for the group’s adjacent products and services.

“We are very pleased to welcome Martek’s team to the group and look forward to a successful future together.”

James Fisher has also acquired 60 per cent of the share capital of MSMC for an initial consideration of £4.1m in cash, with potential further consideration of up to £4.5m subject to profit targets for the year ending December 31, 2019.

MSMC, which was established in 2010 by Abdullah Akbar Natheer and is headquartered in Al Khobar, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, provides near shore marine construction and maintenance services.

E C Hambro Rabben & Partners acted as corporate adviser to James Fisher and Sons .

Last year, James Fisher and Sons revealed that revenue for the 10 months ended October 31, 2018 was 14 per cent ahead of the comparable period the previous year.

The company said that its marine support division continued to show good growth from its services to the renewables sector and from global ship to ship services.

In a statement published in November, the company said: “Overall, James Fisher continues to make good progress and the outlook for the year remains unchanged.”