Kentz completes acquisition of US rival Valerus for $435m

Tipperary-based engineering firm Kentz has completed the acquisition of US operator Valerus Field Solutions for $435 million (€316.5 million).

In a trading update, the group said the deal was concluded shortly after shareholders backed the acquisition at an extraordinary general meeting in London on January 2nd.

To finance the deal, Kentz drew down a $400 million loan, with the balance coming from the company’s existing cash resources.

"The board of Kentz is confident that this addition to the group will be earnings enhancing and together with our existing business will continue to create future value for our shareholders," chief executive Christian Brown said.

The group said its diluted earnings per share for 2013 remained in line with expectations, reflecting its double digit growth for the previous year.

Standalone backlog or the value of contracts stood at $3.1 billion (€2.27 billion) at the end of 2013, up 19 per cent on 2012.

Its order intake also rose 29 per cent to $2.2 billion (€1.6 billion) last year, it said.

The London-listed company, which will publish its full-year result at the end of March, said it had a gross cash balance of approximately $245 million (€180 million) at the end of 2013.

“2013 has been a very busy year for bidding activity; with record levels of bidding undertaken adding to the strong growth in our order intake and year-end backlog,” Mr Brown said.

“Additionally, there are a number of bids outstanding that will be awarded in the first half of 2014.”