MacGregor Forms Offshore Division

MacGregor Group

The MacGregor Group has formed an Offshore division to enhance its already established services to customers in the North Sea and Asia Pacific regions.

The recently acquired companies, Hydramarine in Kristiansand, Norway and Plimsoll in Singapore will be the foundation for a new division within the MacGregor Group, MacGregor Offshore. The Offshore division will comprise more than 660 employees: 160 in Norway and 500 in Asia.

In 2006, Hydramarine and Plimsoll had a combined turnover of approximately €104 million and a order backlog of €175 million. Both Hydramarine and Plimsoll will be financially consolidated into the MacGregor Group as of April 1, 2007.

The new Offshore division will enable a high level of attention and service to the North Sea and Asia Pacific customer base and will form an important platform for the continuous development of existing, as well as new products, to serve the offshore industry.

Hydramarine focuses on the development of hydraulic and electrical load handling equipment for ship and rig owners, yards and operators. Its key products are large Active Heave Compensated (AHC) cranes for the offshore industry. Hydramarine offers a complete range of high-end handling systems such as cranes, davits, winches and subsea load handling solutions. Its products are installed on various kinds of offshore supply vessels and rigs. Hydramarine concentrates on the offshore business in North Sea and the US Gulf region.

Plimsoll focuses on the development of hydraulic deck machinery equipment for ship owners, yards and operators. Plimsoll's key products are a comprehensive range of winches and cranes for offshore and marine applications. Its products are installed on various kinds of offshore support vessels, oil rig vessels, marine tugs and commercial marine vessels. The company also offers a wide range of services and its service business share of net sales is comparable to MacGregor's. Plimsoll is considered as one of the major deck equipment suppliers in the Asia Pacific region.

There are a number of strong synergies in combining Hydramarine and Plimsoll into one new business division. Business-wise, the MacGregor Offshore division will take advantage of the combined strength in the different geographical areas that Hydramarine and Plimsoll represent. There are also strong similarities between the respective product portfolios and technology within Hydramarine and Plimsoll.

MacGregor Offshore division will, together with the existing Service division, also focus on offering the services of the global MacGregor Service Network to the extensive installed base of Hydramarine and Plimsoll equipment. Through strategic acquisitions within the offshore service area, i.e. Grampian Hydraulics and Vestnorsk Hydraulikkservice AS (VNH), MacGregor has strengthened its resources as well as knowledge within this business area.

New management team

To take advantage of the strengths and competencies that each acquired company possesses, a full time division management team has been established. The Offshore division management team will be headed by Henrik Vildenfeldt, former senior vice president of corporate development in the MacGregor Group. Its first major task is the integration of the new division. The integration process will be complex as it will have to deal with different time zones, cultures and organizations, and consequently the integration team will include a wide range of abilities.

The following people have been assigned to the MacGregor Offshore division management team:

  • Henrik Vildenfeldt, general manager, Offshore division
  • Petri Jarvikallio, division controller, Offshore division
  • Leif Bystrom, vice president, operations, Offshore division
  • Ismo Matinlauri, director, after sales operations, Offshore division
  • Kwan Wai Khin, manager, after sales operations, Offshore division
  • Henry Yap, managing director, Plimsoll
  • Chai Chon Kim, executive director, Plimsoll
  • Vidar Robstad, managing director, Hydramarine
  • Svein Erik Halvorsen, technical director, Hydramarine

"It is our goal to become a major global player in offshore load-handling equipment," said Olli Isotalo, president of the MacGregor Group. "With the synergistic effect of being established in both the North Sea as well as in Asia Pacific, we are in a good position to achieve this goal.

"Having the experience, products and customer base within Hydramarine and Plimsoll, combined with the MacGregor Group's worldwide network, we have all the tools we need to succeed,"


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