Aberdeen-based SPEX Group has received £5 million of investment capital to invest in tools and technologies and secure new hires.
The business, which employs 60 and was set up in 2009, provides services to the offshore industry. Within its offering range is explosives, cutting, punching and abandonment.
The bank-backed Business Growth Fund (BGF) has stepped in as backer and will be supporting the company’s international expansion.
SPEX Group is the fourth Scottish company that the BGF has invested in during 2014, and 12th in total.
SPEX Group CEO and founder Jamie Oag, says, ‘The financial support from BGF can speed up our response, allowing us to invest in people, tools and manufacturing equipment while allowing SPEX to maximise the potential of existing technologies that the company believes will be transformational for well control.’
Oag believes that the combination of capital and support that the BGF is providing is ‘perfect’ for the business. Prior to setting up SPEX Group, Oag founded oil and gas services business Optima before selling it to US buyer Tetra for £40 million in 2012.
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According to SPEX Group, its customers are using the company’s in-house capabilities to design, develop, test and manufacture what it describes as ‘groundbreaking’ energetics and non-energetics technologies. The company was featured in the 2013 Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 league table where it placed fourth – one of only four Scottish firms to make the list.
Mike Sibson, BGF investment director, comments, ‘SPEX has built an excellent position based on a unique set of skills, and has exceptionally strong engineering capabilities.
‘It is an ambitious team with a vision to build an international business. We look forward to working together to achieve the vision.’
Going forward, Sibson says that the BGF has a ‘strong pipeline’ of deals having already closed five during 2014.
