Dubai, UAE — Nesma & Partners, a contracting company funded by Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Invesment Fund, has signed an agreement to acquire Kent, a global energy services provider.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the calendar year, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Nesma & Partners is a leading contracting company in the Middle East with over 40 years of experience. The company has an established track record of success in delivering some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest industrial and infrastructure projects or a wide range of clients in the public and private sectors, including Saudi Aramco, the Public Investment Fund, NEOM, GACA, Ministry of the National Guard, Royal Commission, and the Ministry of Defense.
Kent is a privately-owned Engineering and Project Management firm in the Energy Sector. The company has been backed by global energy investment firm Bluewater since 2015. In that time, the company has grown its revenue tenfold, experiencing notable growth over the past two years following its acquisition of SNC-Lavalin’s Oil & Gas business in mid-2021.
The companies said in a statement that “connecting their expertise and resources will enable them to create innovative solutions for clients that meet their evolving needs in an increasingly competitive marketplace across the entire project lifecycle, from consulting to design, build, commissioning, and startup through to maintenance and decommissioning”.
Nesma & Partners and Kent began collaborating in June 2022 to exploit their respective strengths when they established a Joint Venture, NesmaKent, as EPC Champion for Saudi Aramco.
Its goal is building an autonomous engineering center of excellence in Saudi Arabia to develop new capabilities in engineering, procurement, and construction services relating to carbon capture, blue hydrogen, and blue ammonia technologies.
Under the ownership of Nesma & Partners, Kent will be positioned and resourced to accelerate the delivery of its ambitious strategy. There will be no changes to the decision-making autonomy structure of Kent or its core service offering, the statement said.
“This is an exciting time for our company as we look to expand our reach and capabilities,” said Samer Abdul Samad, President & CEO of Nesma & Partners.
“We are deeply impressed with the growth and achievements of Kent so far. We are looking forward to supporting the Kent business to not only continue but supercharge its current trajectory of success,” he added.
Kent’s Chief Executive Officer, John Gilley, said, “With the backing and support of Bluewater over the past eight years, we have been able to cement our position as a leading global energy services provider. Now, under the ownership of Nesma & Partners, the Kent brand and all our teams worldwide will have more opportunities to develop and grow our world-class lifecycle services to our clients.”