Prior Diesel sold to Suretank

Suretank, a world-leading manufacturer of CCUs (Cargo Carrying Units) for the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry, has acquired Prior Diesel, an oil services company, specialising in the design, manufacture and servicing of oilfield equipment including nitrogen pumps, specialist skids, coil tubing and wireline units. BCMS advised the shareholders of Prior Diesel on the transaction, which completed in 2015.

Prior Diesel, based in Great Yarmouth, has served the oil and gas, marine and industrial sectors since 1980. Suretank was established in 1995 in Ireland to supply offshore chemical tanks to the North Sea. the company is now a global supplier of offshore tanks and offshore containers and the largest manufacturer of DNV 2.7-1 certified products.

Prior Diesel’s Joint managing directors Chris Conroy and Gordon MacLean, together with founder and chairman Archie MacLean, remained with the business.

“BCMS managed to achieve far more than if we’d gone the traditional route” – Chris Conroy and Gordon MacLean, Prior Diesel

At the time of the transaction in 2015, Suretank chief executive John Fitzgerald said: “It will be business as usual – only better – at Prior Diesel. We do not anticipate any changes in how we do business operationally, but will continue to strive to strengthen and develop all aspects of Prior Diesel’s customer-centred solutions.”

Suretank has design and manufacturing facilities located in Ireland, UK, Poland, USA, Brazil, Thailand and China with sales offices in USA, Norway and Brazil. Suretank’s product range includes chemical and acid transport tanks, helifuel tanks, offshore containers, cryogenic tanks, pressure vessels, process vessels and modular container solutions.

Commenting post-transaction, Chris Conroy and Gordon MacLean said: “We were drawn to the whole BCMS ethos, and were impressed by the simple logic of what seemed to us a novel approach to selling a business. The fact that BCMS didn’t put a price on the business was important to us; it had great appeal. Actively selling the business rather than simply listing the company was the bit that really drew us in.

“We would have never taken the time-out to stand back and ask some of the questions that BCMS asked us during the sale. It made us realise strategically where the business was strong and where it was weak. BCMS managed to achieve far more than if we’d gone the traditional route and we’re very happy with how it all turned out.”