Acteon Adds Significant Geotechnical And Geophysical Survey Capabilities With Benthic Acquisition

Subsea services group Acteon has agreed to acquire offshore marine geotechnical and geophysical survey company Benthic. Headquartered in Houston, USA, Benthic adds leading deepwater and ultra-deepwater surveying capabilities to Acteon through its proprietary portable remotely operated drill (PROD) technology. Benthic’s latest generation PROD system can conduct in-situ penetration testing and collect samples and cores in extremely challenging conditions, including seabed slopes greater than 20° and water depths exceeding 3000 m.

Benthic has a long and extensive record of innovation. Its subsea drilling technology offers an unrivalled solution compared with traditional geotechnical surveying techniques. The company has undertaken comprehensive geotechnical site investigations and geophysical surveys in all the world’s deepwater basins for leading oil and gas clients. Work has recently been executed in South America in water depths exceeding 2100 m, and the latest equipment upgrades enable operations in depths up to 4000 m, and there are plans to expand services to include offshore wind and scientific research.

“Our commitment to a continuous programme of innovation stretches back 15 years,” said Steve Pywell, chief executive officer of Benthic. “I am excited by the opportunities offered by becoming part of Acteon, which will enable us to work collaboratively with the other companies in the group and allow us to offer a broad range of integrated solutions.”

“Having Benthic in our portfolio greatly enhances Acteon’s existing survey businesses and further strengthens the group’s global offer; we plan to continue its existing programme of capital expenditure to ensure it can service growing worldwide customer demand,” said Richard Higham, Acteon chief executive.

The transaction is expected to complete in May 2019. Pywell will continue to lead the Benthic team and will help Acteon to provide its clients with an increasingly comprehensive geosciences service to meet their requirements around the world.

Acteon’s principal advisors for the transaction were Evercore, Clifford Chance and KPMG.

About Acteon
Acteon provides a range of global subsea services from surveying, installation and asset integrity management through to decommissioning. Acteon’s companies are 2H Offshore, Aquatic, Claxton, Clarus Subsea Integrity, Conductor Installation Services (CIS), Core Grouting Services, Deepwater, InterAct, InterMoor, J2 Subsea, LDD, LM Handling, MENCK, Probe Oil Tools, Pulse Structural Monitoring, Seatronics, Subsea Riser Products (SRP), TEAM Energy Resources and UTEC. Acteon’s companies share knowledge and experience to add value and create effective, tailored solutions for clients across four business segments: surveying, monitoring and data; risers and moorings; seabed foundation technologies; and project support services. For more information, visit acteon.com.

About Benthic
Benthic is a global leader in offshore marine geotechnical investigation, survey, analysis and design. The company takes pride in its ground-breaking technological innovations that help to overcome technical and environmental barriers and enable clients to gather data in conditions that were considered prohibitive just a decade ago. Benthic continues to invest in the future through new technologies and processes that extend the boundaries of subsea investigation and analysis. The company’s flexible, solutions-driven approach enables the delivery of timely, high-quality services tailored to clients’ unique project objectives. For more information, visit www.benthic.com.