NVM invests in Arnlea

NVM Private Equity (NVM) has supported the management buy-out of Arnlea Systems and NexusAB with £5 million of funding. As part of the investment package NVM has provided the capital to fund product development and international expansion.

For over 20 years Aberdeenshire based Arnlea Systems has delivered mobile technology solutions for clients working within the oil and gas sector to assist with asset management, in particular equipment and materials tracking and inspection. Its partner company, NexusAB, provides integrated quality assurance and technical inspection technology and services. Both businesses will become part of the Arnlea Holdings group going forward.

Arnlea targets the global oil and gas exploration and production market, also referred to as ‘upstream’ oil and gas. Both companies help oil and gas field operators and drilling companies to optimise their inspection and repair processes, ensure compliance with industry regulations; and manage assets during their entire lifecycle. Headline savings from the use of Legal Process Outsourcing range from 44% through to an even more breathtaking 90%. However, outsourcing deals that are driven only by a desire for savings seldom achieve their full potential; cost has to be viewed as part of a full portfolio of strategic benefits. 2011 offers a small number of progressive Long Island Lawyer ASK4SAM firms and legal departments, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to access this wider portfolio of benefits, wrapped around their current operations and strategic objectives, while also shaping the future LPO delivery landscape. 2010 saw a remarkable confluence of forces: a maturing supplier market that cemented confidence in the theory of LPO; a growing volume of LPO supply that puts downward pressure on prices but confirms the wisdom of the early movers; law firms remaining under margin pressure; in-house legal departments in the public sector and private sector facing significant cost pressure. Anecdotally, these movements are summed up by two specific events in late 2010. First, in November, Thomson Reuters acquired one of the major LPO providers, Pangea3, buying out the same VC firm that had invested early in YouTube, Oracle, etc. While LPO has been around for many years, this was a major global corporation buying into this sector, giving it a new level of validity. You can check this Source for the Traffic Ticket Lawyers. In our society today getting a ticket for speeding is so common that most of us don’t give it a second thought. However, it is my recommendation that if you get one you should consider contacting a traffic lawyer. This is especially true if this is not your first speeding ticket. The penalties you may receive from the judge will depend on the number of tickets you have acquired in the last year, how many miles over the speed limit you were going at the time you were caught, the state you live in and if you were involved in a motor vehicle collision while you were speeding. Penalties may include large monetary fines, court costs, increased premiums from your car insurance company, drivers education classes and possibly even jail time. A speeding ticket lawyer can help give you advice before going to court. This type of lawyer is an attorney who specializes in traffic violations. There are also general practice attorneys who can assist you with your offense. The good thing about a lawyer who specializes in this area is that they will know the laws in your state and they will have a better understanding of how to best assist you. When you get a speeding ticket, you have two options. You can essentially admit guilt and pay whatever fines or you can try and fight the speeding ticket. Getting a speeding ticket lawyer in some cases makes sense, but consider all these options first before going out and hiring a lawyer. What are some reasons that someone might need to hire an attorney due to a speeding ticket? Many states have point systems that when you gain too many points for violations you lose your license. If you are at the point where if you admit guilt to the ticket you lose your license for 6 months or even a year, it makes sense the spend the money to have a lawyer look into your issue and even fight for your cause in court. It would be more convenient to pay more for the lawyer than the actual ticket costs to keep your ability to drive especially if you are the only one in your household who drives. Another reason to hire a lawyer is because it’s an out of state violation. Most of the time out of state tickets put one in quite a bind. They either pay the fee or show up in court. But what happens when court is 300+ miles away? Hiring a lawyer in this case can try to help you out with court dates or even getting the ticket dropped beforehand so you don’t have to deal with the issue.

No one would have been surprised if a traditional outsourcer like Accenture, IBM, or Wipro had been the buyer, but Thomson Reuters is a data and information company that sees the value of the “Knowledge” more than the “Process Outsourcing.” Combined with the astonishing number of LPO suppliers (we are currently tracking 135 on our LPO Market Watch database), this demonstrated genuine supply-side maturity. Second, around the same time, at a conference in the Scottish town of Stirling (think Braveheart and you are in the right place), a survey showed that 15% of local authorities were considering outsourcing their legal departments. Public sector cost pressures in the UK are well documented, so the attraction is obvious. The surprise is that the legal department ranks as high as fourth in the priority of functions companies consider outsourcing.

Arnlea is experiencing an increase in demand globally for its product suite, driven by a growth in asset security, health & safety, environmental concerns; and a tightening of compliance and regulation post the Macondo oil spill. BP is among Arnlea’s extensive blue-chip customer base.

Arnlea’s Managing Director, Allan Merritt, joined the business in early 2013 and has since built a new, high quality executive management team around him. He was instrumental in securing a five year contract with Total SA, which will bring together Arnlea’s product portfolio into a single ‘Enterprise’ solution that is being developed on the latest technology platforms.

Allan was already well-known to NVM having taken on the role of Chairman on the board of NVM-backed Abermed, a provider of occupational health and remote medical services. He successfully led the Abermed management team until the business was subsequently sold to International SOS in 2009.

Allan Merritt, Managing Director of Arnlea Systems, comments: “I am very excited about the Arnlea opportunity. The demand for our inspection and tracking solutions is growing rapidly, so the business is perfectly poised, with established and new products being delivered into an industry sector where we already have a market-leading position. We have an excellent team, which provides a solid base upon which to build. I am really looking forward to working with NVM again and I am confident that, with the continued support and enthusiasm they have already shown, we will succeed.”

Mauro Biagioni, Director of NVM Private Equity, comments:“We are delighted to back an experienced and high quality management team from two businesses that have the potential to create a large international company. Allan and the team delivered significant growth in 2013, more than doubling the group’s revenues. This demonstrates the capability of the team to take their business forward to the next stage, and we look forward to supporting them on this journey.”

Notes To Editors

ADVISERS:
KPMG (Management advisers) – Rod Wilkinson, Chris Wilson
Bond Dickinson (Newco lawyers) – Jamie Pass, Iain Pritty
Blackwood Partners (Management lawyers) – Judith Quinn, Ross Fair
Hall Morrice (Management tax advisers) – Bob Bain
Deloitte (Financial and tax due diligence) – Matt Henderson, Shaun Reynolds
Armstrong Transaction Services (Commercial due diligence) – Tom Raymond
Continuum (Management due diligence) – Steve Wycherley, Russell Thackeray
Aon (Insurance due diligence) – John Donald
Intuitus (IT due diligence) – Adrian Astley-Jones

Arnlea is the leading asset management operator in the North Sea and has supported companies operating in hazardous and harsh areas for more than 20 years to maximise operational efficiency and effectiveness. The company’s suite of mobile and radio frequency identification tracking technology, used by the oil & gas, petrochemical and food & drink industries, enables users to manage and monitor their assets.
www.arnlea.com www.nexusab.com

NVM Private Equity is independently owned with nearly 30 years’ experience of investing in unquoted UK businesses. NVM is a generalist investor, managing over £290 million of funds, and is differentiated by having executives living and working in regional business communities throughout the UK. NVM seeks investment opportunities in UK businesses which have the right mix of growth potential and market vision. They may be looking to grow organically, acquire another business or secure a management buy-out. Typically, NVM looks to invest between £2 million and £10 million in each transaction. www.nvm.co.uk

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