Chinese Grab SMD

Wallsend-based manufacturer of subsea vehicle systems, Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has been acquired by Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co, a subsidiary of Chinese company CSR Corporation.

The Hong Kong-listed company has bought SMD from Inflexion Private Equity and SMD’S management team for, according to reports, £120 million.

Inflexion Private Equity, the mid-market private equity investor, acquired a majority stake in SMD back in 2008.

According to SMD, the two companies have signed a sale and purchase agreement for the entire share capital of the SMD group.

Becoming part of CSR will be a key step in SMD’s development as a business and we look forward to continuing to deliver to our markets in this new and exciting phase of our history, said Andrew Hodgson, CEO of SMD.

Mr Jiang Yi, Deputy President of CSR Zhuzhou Institute, commented: “SMD has world class technology, a world class engineering team and an extensive track record in the subsea sector. I believe CSR and SMD will work together to further develop the global subsea equipment market.”

Subsea World News Staff