United Offshore Support GmbH, backed by funds managed by Hayfin Capital Management and Breakwater Capital, agrees to acquire UOS United Offshore Support GmbH & Co KG and Hartmann Offshore GmbH & Co KG
Company also agrees to appoint Howard Woodcock and Carsten Plougmann Andersen as Chief Executive and Non-Executive Chairman
London/Leer, 2 July 2018 – United Offshore Support GmbH (“UOS” or “the company”), a provider of commercial and technical-nautical management services to a fleet of 13 Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels, is being established with the backing of funds managed by Hayfin Capital Management (“Hayfin”) and Breakwater Capital (“Breakwater”) and has agreed to acquire the commercial and technical management business of both UOS United Offshore Support GmbH & Co KG and Hartmann Offshore GmbH & Co KG. These two businesses provide commercial and technical-nautical management services respectively to the same 13-strong fleet, which is also owned by funds managed by Hayfin and Breakwater. In addition, UOS today announces that it has agreed to appoint Howard Woodcock as Chief Executive and Carsten Plougmann Andersen as Non-Executive Chairman.
Howard Woodcock holds over 35 years’ experience in the shipping, marine, and offshore oil & gas sectors. He has been Chief Executive of Bibby Offshore, a leading provider of subsea services to the oil & gas industry that he helped grow from a start-up to a recognised regional tier-one contractor, since 2005. Prior to this he worked at Bibby Line Limited for 12 years, beginning as an Assistant Ship Manager and rising to Director of Shipping. Before joining Bibby Line Limited, Howard was a Chartered Ship Broker, becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, and spent nine years in the Merchant Navy, having begun his career as a deck cadet aged 16. He has been a Non-Executive Director of Aberdeen Harbour Board since 2012 and Vice Chairman of the Board since 2015. He begins his role as Chief Executive of UOS on 1 August.
Carsten Plougmann Andersen is an experienced senior executive in the international shipping sector who has worked at A.P. Moller-Maersk Group for over 40 years. From 2004 to 2015, Carsten was Group Senior Vice President at A.P. Moller-Maersk and Chief Executive of Maersk Supply Service, a leading provider of global offshore marine services. In this role he was responsible for a fleet of around 60 high-end offshore vessels, 250 onshore employees, and 1,900 seafarers with an annual turnover of $800 million. From 2012 to 2014, Carsten was Chairman of ESVAGT, a dedicated provider of safety and support services at sea, playing a key role in preparing the business for its sale out of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group to 3i in 2014. Since 2015, Carsten has run his own oil & gas services and maritime transportation consultancy firm, C.PLAN Consultants.
These senior additions will enhance UOS’ ability to provide a versatile, high-quality service to end-users and position the fleet for further growth. Hayfin and Breakwater acquired the fleet being managed by UOS in October 2017 as part of a transaction to recapitalise an 11-strong fleet of Moss 424 Design Anchor Handlers formerly owned by the Hartmann Group, to which two UT 786 CD type vessels acquired from E.R. Offshore were added in March 2018.
Howard Woodcock, Chief Executive of the Company, commented: “I am delighted to be joining UOS. The company’s strong financial base and highly experienced team will allow us to continue to expand the fleet and grow the business internationally. Managing assets safely and delivering on our long-term commitment to working with end-users in the offshore industry really differentiates UOS.”
Carsten Plougmann Andersen, Non-Executive Chairman of UOS, said: “I am very much looking forward to working in partnership with Howard on the further development of UOS. Our team’s detailed knowledge of the offshore support vessel industry and substantial leadership experience will enable us to fulfil our ambitions of profitability, continued safe and incident-free operation, and growth.”
Disclaimer Certain statements in this document constitute “forward-looking statements”. Such forward-looking statements, including the intended actions and performance objectives of Hayfin, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Hayfin to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this document.
