Rigmar Buys Riverside Engineering (UK)

A leading international oil and gas services firm has bought one of Dundee’s longest established fabrication companies in a six-figure deal.

Rigmar Services, which is headquartered in Aberdeen, has acquired the majority share in Riverside Engineering, which will now be rebranded as Rigmar Fabrication Ltd.

Launched in 2008, Rigmar Services provides a range of specialist oil and gas support services globally, including rope access, construction engineering, inspection, and painting, with the majority of their client base in UK North Sea and West Africa.

The acquisition secures Rigmar’s position to expand the business into the Dundee area and further develop the current fabrication facilities at Prince Charles Wharf at the docks to provide a premier jack up port in the city for rig upgrades.

Riverside Engineering’s 40 skilled employees will become part of the Rigmar team as the company focuses on attracting oil and gas contracts to Tayside, targeting the topside fabrication, subsea and renewables market. The port has facilities capable of servicing jack-ups, semi-submersible rigs and dive support vessels.

As part of the deal, Rigmar has secured a 40,000sq feet site, which includes a major fabrication facility with overhead cranes, yard space, direct quayside load out and an office building. The firm has already moved into larger offices on the site, which offers substantial client facilities.

Managing Director of Rigmar Services, Rob Dalziel, said: “We have worked well with Riverside for a number of years and we recognised there was an opportunity to utilise the facility and the knowledge within the business to attract the oil and gas offshore and renewables market.

“We were looking for an established company with a highly skilled and experienced team to develop our plan to expand into the south and develop our vision to create one of the UK’s premier jack up ports in the city of Dundee. This acquisition secures our long-term commitment to develop our business in Tayside.”

Riverside Engineering was a £3m turnover firm launched in 1983, which focussed primarily on work from the petrochemical and refinery field and Gary Mitchelson took over in 1999. He will continue as managing director of Rigmar Fabrication.

Mitchelson said: “The decision to move forward together is the first step towards an exciting future for the business. I will enjoy the challenge of continuing to grow and develop into new markets, such as renewables, which is set to provide a substantial number of job opportunities for the local area. Rigmar has been a valued customer and joining forces creates a skilled workforce and a strong, talented team.”

Dundee and the Port of Dundee have already been recognised as a key asset in Scotland’s National Renewable Infrastructure Plan, and the area is earmarked to play a vital role in the future development of a comprehensive supply chain to support Scotland’s emerging offshore wind industry.

With expansion plans underway at Rigmar Fabrication there are set to be significant job opportunities for skilled tradesmen in Dundee in the near future.

The firm has already secured it’s first multi-million pound contract to upgrade a rig in Dundee for a US drilling firm operating in the North Sea and additional rig work is secured for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013.

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Press Release, December 06, 2012