Australia’s ALS to acquire Scottish oil, gas services firm Reservoir for $533 mn

Australian commercial testing specialist ALS yesterday agreed to acquire Scottish oil and gas services firm Reservoir Group, for $533 million (£353 million).

Aberdeen-based Reservoir, owned by US private equity firm SCF Partners and senior management of the company, is a provider of specialist oil and gas services and equipment that assists with the evaluation and development of oil and gas discoveries.

Reservoir operates five segments, Coring; Laboratory Analysis; Surface Logging; Downhole Tools and Specialist Well Services.

The company has a global presence with major hub operations in Aberdeen, Dubai, Houston and Edmonton, operational infrastructure in approximately 40 sites covering oil and gas provinces and over 900 employees.

For year ended 31 March 2013, Reservoir generated revenue of $223 million, $55 million in EBITDA, and $44 million in EBITA.

The senior management team at Reservoir has agreed to roll over around 50 per cent of their stake into ALS shares and has committed to run the business.

Brisbane-based ALS said that the acquisition will give it an immediate and significant presence in upstream oil and gas services focusing on technology-based evaluation, development and optimisation of hydrocarbon reservoirs.

''Reservoir's specialist services and equipment deliver high margin, technical and patented niche solutions. The business holds a leading position in the global coring market and is the leading surface logging provider in North America,'' said Greg Kilmister, ALS managing director and CEO.

''Reservoir provides a portfolio of eight distinct diversified technical services to the global oil and gas markets, for both conventional and unconventional resources. The missing piece to Reservoir's service offering is a strong capability in laboratory services. ALS brings that capability to the services suite and the combined businesses will provide a compelling offering,'' he added.