Nesma & Partners acquire Kent to expand sustainable growth in Middle Eastern energy sector

(WO) – Nesma & Partners, a contracting company in the Middle East, has signed an agreement to acquire Kent, a global energy services provider. This agreement aligns two successful and entrepreneurial companies with a shared vision for sustainable expansion, creating greater opportunities in new and existing markets as well as service development and enhancement. Completion is anticipated by the end of the calendar year, at which time Nesma & Partners will become the owner of Kent.

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. Now a $1.4 billion-dollar revenue business, it competes for recognized value-based service contracts covering complex and technical solutions for the conventional energy, renewables, low carbon, chemicals and processing sectors.

Kent has a roster of blue-chip clients including international energy companies, national oil companies and renewable energy companies.

The strengths of Nesma & Partners and Kent will be leveraged to deliver high-quality services to clients across various industries. 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.

Deploying such technologies will minimize dependence on manual labor, enhance competitiveness, advance execution through schedule and cost improvements, and include visualization, data integration, asset management, digital twin, analytics & artificial intelligence, cyber resilience, and low carbon 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 current leadership team will remain in place and continue to deliver world-class services to the energy industry through four well-established service lines: Consulting; Engineering & Projects; Commissioning, Completions & Start-up; and Operations & Maintenance. With the new structure, Kent will double down on its efforts to address the challenges and opportunities of the global energy transition.

Completing this share purchase agreement marks a significant milestone for both companies. It sets the stage for their next growth cycle and helps them achieve their purpose, building a brighter, more sustainable future for the world.