Aberdeenshire-based subsea firm Aleron Group said it has acquired electrical drive engineering specialist IMPAQ as part of a plan to expand beyond offshore oil and gas into new markets including military, defense and nuclear industries.
“This acquisition signals our intent to expand upon our reputation for supplying reliable, robust subsea support equipment, and grow the business in new global markets,” said Aleron Group Commercial Director, Gary McConnell. IMPAQ-Technologies has already opened us up to a new area – the academia sector – and we will be targeting the defense, military and nuclear industries in a similar way as we continue to develop our electrical drive technology.”
Following the deal, Aleron Group scored its first contract in the academic sector. The newly-named entity IMPAQ-Technologies will support the British Geological Survey (BGS) with an upgrade to their RD2 remote seabed corer and rock drill. The upgraded system will use a subsea hydraulic power unit and a topside power distribution unit supplied by Aleron Subsea to increase the drilling capability of the RD2 system in deep water and areas of hard or complex geology.
Aleron Group said this latest acquisition adds a new range of products and engineering capabilities to the group including a fleet of positive pressure compensators, subsea hydraulic power units and bespoke electric motors. These will be used as part of the group’s own demand for their AUXROV and TRACKROV systems, remotely operated underwate vehicle (ROV) tooling builds and customer requirements. This will result in greater time and cost efficiencies for its clients.
The other Aleron Group companies are hybrid ROV system specialist Aleron Subsea, and ROVQUIP which manufactures custom and standard subsea tooling. The new combined offering strengthens the Group’s aspiration to form a technology driven business that can deliver a range of subsea and topside products and equipment across different subsea markets.
IMPAQ-Technologies director, John Rodgers, will continue to lead the company’s electrical engineering and technology development from its existing base in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. All testing will be conducted at the Group headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland.
“John Rodgers will continue to play an important role in the company, spearheading the development of new electrical drive technology solutions,” McConnell said.
“We also have ambitious plans to grow the number of IMPAQ-Technologies personnel by the end of the year.”