News & Insights

THREE60 Energy Invests in Step Change Engineering

THREE60 Energy Group | February 6th, 2018

Today (6 February 2018), Aberdeen based Step Change Engineering announced it has partnered with Simmons Private Equity (“SPE”), an energy focused private equity fund. This investment by SPE marks the addition of a second company into the Integrated Consulting Group (“ICG”).

Established in 2014, Step Change Engineering specialises in the provision of design, engineering and project management services in relation to brownfield projects and the repair and minor modification of topside Oil and Gas facilities in the UKCS. The company has established a sound track record with its client base including major oilfield Operators, with projects delivered by a team of over 50 multi-disciplined technical experts. The business adopts an innovative approach to delivering maintenance and modification projects, which has led to it securing major work scopes in the North Sea. A number of recent major contract wins have marked a move to tier 2 contractors in the basin, and further contracts are currently being negotiated with major Operators in the region.

The investment in Step Change Engineering represents the second constituent company to the global upstream consulting group ICG following the initial investment in LEAP Energy. ICG’s strategy is to continue building a portfolio of niche consultancy providers which when combined, will drive Operator efficiency, safety and productivity across the whole life cycle of Oil and Gas assets.

The existing management team of Step Change Engineering, John Wilson, Satnam Shoker and Colin Bruce, will continue to lead business operations. Step Change Engineering will also benefit from the support of the ICG management team, including Allister Langlands, formerly Chairman and CEO of Wood Group, and Gerwyn Williams, formerly COO of Wood Group Kenny and GM of McDermott. Williams said, “There are many Operators, particularly those small to medium in size, who want the services of a global consultancy with integrated capability in subsurface, drilling and facilities. We are driven to make our customers’ businesses safer, more efficient and more productive. Step Change Engineering joining the ICG group marks a significant step closer towards this goal.”

John Wilson, co-founder and Managing Director at Step Change Engineering, said: “We are excited at the growth prospects available from greater access to capital and working together with SPE to realise the ambition of creating a global upstream consulting group. We are convinced this strategy will deliver superior solutions to our clients, increase our reach internationally and offer broader opportunities to our staff.”

Additional opportunities have been identified across different service lines and markets in order to further diversify the ICG group. Key areas of focus for development of the group include geophysics, production optimisation, drilling and well management, concept development, project development and operations support. Williams continued, “We believe by putting a group together on these lines, we are addressing the fundamental requirement of industry to bring efficiency by project managing the interfaces of the various work-streams.  The group’s focus will be on late life and brownfield projects where our customers want to get more value from their existing operations.”

SPE is an energy-focused fund managed by energy investment banking specialists, Simmons & Company International Ltd. This investment will add to its established portfolio of energy-focused companies including Pryme Group, Seanamic, Starn, Glacier Energy Services and HCS.

About Step Change Engineering

Step Change Engineering provides design, engineering and project management services in relation to brownfield projects and the repair and minor modification of topside Oil and Gas facilities in the UKCS. It currently has a team of approximately 50 experts based in Aberdeen, covering all engineering and project management disciplines in the sector. The company has been recognized extensively for its achievements, winning the ‘Business Success Under Three Years’ at the last Elevator awards, as well as being named as a finalist for the ‘Great Company Award – SME’ in the upcoming 2018 Offshore Achievement Awards.

About LEAP Energy

LEAP Energy is headquartered in Malaysia and provides subsurface technical consulting and software development services globally to Independent Oil Companies, National Oil Companies and Government bodies. In particular, the company offers expertise in difficult hydrocarbon recovery, fractured reservoirs, mature field production optimization, enhanced oil recovery and unconventional resources such as coal bed methane.

About Simmons & Company

Simmons & Company are the Energy Specialists of US bank Piper Jaffray, and have one of the largest and most experienced energy investment banking teams in the industry.  The latest Simmons Private Equity fund II has raised approximately £130 million for investment in small to medium size companies who provide a differentiated offering to customers.   To date, the this fund has invested in Starn, specialising in services to support integrity services, the Seanamic Group specialising in subsea related products, and the Pryme Group who specialise in component and outsourced manufacturing services.

About Allister Langlands

Former Chairman and Chief Executive of Wood Group, Allister Langlands has been appointed as ICG Group Chairman. Langlands joins with a wealth of leadership experience and significant knowledge in the engineering, consulting and production support sectors from his 23 years with Wood Group between 1991 and 2014. More recently, he was a Non-Executive Director with WS Atkins plc and Chairman of Exova plc, a materials testing business.

About Gerwyn Williams

Former Chief Operating Officer of Wood Group Kenny, Gerwyn Williams has been appointed as Group Chief Executive. Williams joins with a record of experience in both global management and as an engineer with particular knowledge in the Oil and Gas sector. Mr Williams spent 14 years at Wood Group Kenny and prior to that worked at several blue chip companies including BP and McDermott.

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