Northeast Scotland's Balmoral Group has agreed to take a "substantial stake" in mooring and lifting firm ACE Winches for a US$13.56 million (£10 million) investment.
The two firms are to work together to "maximize global opportunities in the offshore, renewables and decommissioning markets."
ACE Winches provides mooring, lifting, pulling and deploying solutions provider in more than 50 countries. Balmoral specializes in subsea buoyancy, flotation, insulation, elastomer and renewable energy products, property development, civil/environmental engineering liquid storage and treatment solutions.
Both companies have seen success on the global stage, however, since the beginning of the oil price slide in 2014, manufacturing business has slowed for ACE Winches and the company has restructured to optimise global rental opportunities.
With the new investment, ACE is eyeing opportunities to expand its equipment hire business on a global basis and the two companies say there are synergies between their organizations.
Jim Milne, chairman and managing director at Balmoral Group, said: “Without doubt the offshore industry is changing but with that change comes opportunity.
“ACE Winches has built a very strong reputation for providing world-class deck machinery and lifting solutions and we recognize the potential in the company. Our aim is to help them achieve greater market share on the world stage by identifying and advising on new markets.”
Alfie Cheyne, CEO and founder of ACE Winches is looking forward to the opportunities ahead: “Both ACE Winches and Balmoral Group have extensive experience of opening up new markets. We see the renewables and decommissioning sectors, in particular, offering strong growth potential both in the immediate and longer term."
Jim Milne joins the ACE Winches board as non-executive chairman and Balmoral’s finance director, Bill Main, also joins as non-executive director.