Abraaj Capital acquires GMMOS Group of Companies

GMMOS Group is comprised of four well-established business divisions, including Grandweld, the leading shipyard in the Gulf focusing on the Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) segment; GMMOS Fabrication, an oil and gas specialised steel fabricator of pressure vessels and skid modules; Stanford Marine, a prominent OSV charter operator in the Gulf; and Gallagher, one of the largest mobile fleet operators in the UAE.

The firm has witnessed very strong growth over the past few years across all its divisions. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years, driven by sustained high oil prices, increased oil and gas related spending, growth in the regional construction sector, and the overall economic growth of the region.

Abraaj's acquisition of GMMOS Group was made through the US$500 million Abraaj Buyout Fund II (ABOF II).

Commenting on the acquisition, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, Managing Director of Abraaj Capital, said:

"This is Abraaj's first direct entry into the attractive and rapidly growing oil and gas services segment. GMMOS Group is a classic private equity target: a successful company and great prospective platform that will be able to make a transformational leap forward with access to the management and financial expertise, and funding, that we bring to the table."

Omar Lodhi, Executive Director at Abraaj Capital, said: "There is currently an unprecedented scale of investment in offshore exploration and production activity, nowhere more so than in the Gulf and Caspian regions. GMMOS Group, through its core business divisions, is a key supplier to the regional oil and gas industry, and is ideally positioned to benefit from this upsurge in both upstream and downstream spending."

In a statement, Abraaj and GMMOS Group management underlined their vision and commitment to the group's future success. "At the moment, capacity and capital are the only constraints on the company's growth. Our strategy is to inject capital and increase capacity, both through organic growth and merger and acquisition activity, in order to consolidate and grow the product offerings of the various divisions and give the group a leading pan-regional presence."