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Deal Maker of the Year Awards 2013
UK
WINNER - ROBIN WATSON DEAL: Wood Group PSN acquires Pyeroy Group
NAME: Robin Watson COMPANY: Wood Group PSN POSITION: Chief Executive TEL: +44 1224 851000 WEBSITE: www.woodgroup-psn.com
DEAL OVERVIEW Q
Please summarise the transaction
In July 2013, Wood Group PSN completed the acquisition of Pyeroy Group Limited (“Pyeroy”), a specialist coatings, access and fabric maintenance service provider to the energy, marine and rail industries. The company was founded in 1973, employs approximately 1800 personnel across 8 locations in the UK & Ireland and for the year ending December 31, 2012 generated revenue and EBITA of £88.9m and £4.6m.
The acquisition enables Wood Group PSN to offer coating and access services to our oil and gas clients - effectively taking a service which we typically provided via our supply chain, in-house. These services are particularly relevant in the mature UK oil and gas sector for extending the life of existing assets and for decommissioning projects. Pyeroy has a strong reputation in the marine and rail sectors which brings opportunities in new sectors for WGPSN.
Q What was your role within the transaction
After identifying the opportunity to expand our service offering, and establishing the appropriate relationships in Pyeroy, I took a proposition for the acquisition to the Wood Group board. I chaired the transaction process through to completion, acted as WGPSN sponsor and worked closely with the team that developed the integration plan to bring Pyeroy into WGPSN’s UK business.
Q
What were the challenges or difficulties presented
The acquisition of Pyeroy brought an entirely new service line to WGPSN so we were challenged with creating a stand-alone business stream, which was more complex than a conventional acquisition. We had taken a very reputable company with non-oil and gas experience and had a vision to convert this capability into our marketplace but recognised there was a lot of positioning we had to do to achieve this. Also, as this was a non traditional industry deal, the process for securing this deal had its own unique challenges.
oQ overcome
How were the challenges or difficulties
We overcame all challenges by having the right offer, a defined deal structure, and a well informed, well connected and robust management team working on the deal. What was most important though was the fact we shared very similar values to Pyeroy which ensured high levels of integrity and financial responsibility. By maintaining open and honest channels of communication throughout, we were able to predict, as well as overcome challenges.
Q
How does the transaction fit in with your overall business strategy
We have a well defined business strategy to grow our UK business by growing our capability. Our model for fabric maintenance and access work was to outsource from
BIO
Robin Watson assumed the role of Chief Executive of Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) in 2012, and was appointed to the board of John Wood Group PLC on January 1, 2013. Prior to this he was the company’s UK Managing Director.
WGPSN is the largest brownfield production services provider to the energy industry employing more than 30,000 people globally and generating revenues of almost $4 billion (USD).
Direct engagement with new & existing operators to maximise the value of late-life assets has been a key focus for Robin as he leads the growth of the global business, both organically and through acquisition.
With almost 30 years engineering and industry experience, he has spent the past 23 years in a variety of senior leadership, business development, project management and operations management roles both within the operator and service sectors of the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Wood Group, Robin worked for Petrofac and Mobil Oil, working both in the UK and internationally.
For more than 10 years he has played an active role in some of the oil and gas industry’s representative bodies, namely as a board member of Oil & Gas UK and the Oil & Gas UK Contractors Council, member of the Step Change in Safety Leadership Team, Co-Chair of the ‘Step Change’ human factors work group, and since 2011 has sat on the Scottish Business Board, a cross-industry leadership group chaired by the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Robin is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, a Fellow of the Energy Institute and holds an Honours Degree in Offshore & Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). Hailing from the West Coast of Scotland, he is married with three children and lives in Aberdeen.
an established industry supply chain and it was upon recognising there was a more effective way to deliver services to our customers, we moved from this outsourcing model to a core capability model.
Q
What are your plans following the transaction
Following the transaction we established an integration team focused on transitioning the Pyeroy business into WGPSN’s UK operations. One of our first priorities was to ensure that the WGPSN core values were rolled out to the 1800 new people joining our business. We are now working on integrating Pyeroy’s business line into our sales pipeline and examining the opportunities that exist within our business to offer integrated services to existing clients. Within just six months of the deal, Pyeroy is already actively working with three different oil and gas sector clients.