STATS secures BGF investment

BGF invested £7.8m to back STATS’ CEO, Peter Duguid, who together with his sister, Lorraine Porter, founded the company in 1998. Based in Kintore, near Aberdeen, STATS is an engineering-led business that provides isolation services for onshore and offshore oil and gas pipelines. Its proprietary tools, manufactured in-house, are used to plug and isolate ‘live’ sections of pipelines to enable safe pump and valve replacement and general repair and maintenance work. The ability to repair a pipeline without a shutdown and without evacuation can save tens of millions of pounds of lost production.

In addition to its base in Aberdeen, STATS operates across the world through a network of branch offices and agencies in Canada, the Middle East and the Far East. The company employs 130 people and has grown organically and through acquisition. Its 2011 revenues of £14m are set to grow by over 75% in 2012 to approximately £25m, with much of that growth forecast in the Middle East.

BGF’s £7.8m equity investment is funding continued investment in people, building out the fleet of proprietary isolation devices, and allowing the business to expand its international footprint.

With its niche product offering, STATS serves a large and growing international marketplace valued at c. £500m. Demand for its services is being driven by growth in pipeline infrastructure, increased maintenance spend on ageing pipeline and process infrastructure, efforts to extend the life of producing assets and a tightening regulatory environment.

As a technically differentiated business offering unique products to a large and growing international market, STATS is a great example of the type of business in which BGF wants to invest.

STATS was introduced to BGF by Bank of Scotland, one of BGF’s shareholders. This is indicative of how BGF can work in partnership with banks to unlock more credit for SMEs whilst also ensuring a well capitalised and properly funded long term balance sheet.