Akastor, NES create new oil & gas workforce company

Akastor, an oil service investment company, has entered into a definitive agreement with the owners of NES Global Talent (NES) to join its Frontica Advantage business with NES.

According to a statement by Akastor on Thursday, NES will acquire all the shares in Frontica Advantage Group, which are owned by Frontica Group, and Akastor will receive shares and shareholders loan units in NES as consideration.

Akastor will become a shareholder with initial 15.2% interest in the combined company which will be a global provider of staffing services to the oil and gas industry.

In addition, Akastor may receive additional shares in the combined company increasing its ownership to about 19 % of the combined company depending on the future growth of Advantage over the next three years.

AEA Investors, a global private investment firm, is the main owner of NES. Established in 1978, NES is a manpower specialist across the oil and gas, power, construction and infrastructure, life sciences, manufacturing and IT sectors with more than 45 offices in 28 countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

“NES and Advantage are complementary businesses and form a powerful combination that will benefit our customers going forward with NES’s global operating platform,” says Kristian Røkke, CEO of Akastor. “This transaction will create a larger, more diversified business that will be better positioned for a stronger future than could be achieved on a stand-alone basis.”

Tig Gilliam, CEO, NES Global Talent comments: “We are delighted to welcome the Advantage team to the NES Global Talent family. With this acquisition, we look forward to bringing the full resources of NES to Advantage clients on a global basis. In this most challenging market for Energy clients, geographic scope and breadth of capability is essential to deliver operational excellence and efficiency to our contractors and clients.”

The transaction will generate an estimated accounting gain of approximately NOK 430 million to Akastor to be recognized upon closing. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including competition filing in Norway and closing is expected in the first quarter of 2017.

Recently, Akastor sold its Frontica Business Solutions comprised of the Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) business segments of the Frontica Group but excludes Frontica’s staffing business, Frontica Advantage.