Aiken Group Limited was put in administration on Thursday 14 March 2019 and subsequently acquired by Global Energy Group.
Aiken Group, a well-known and highly-regarded business, was established in 1987 as a multi-disciplinary engineering and project management services business, specialising in modules, accommodation and refrigeration. It is a supplier of accommodation modules in every sector and provides specialist technicians to offshore oil and gas operators, to support the maintenance and certification requirements of their permanently-installed living and catering areas.
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Headquartered in Aberdeen, the company trades through nine divisions and has a blue-chip global customer base.
The company has suffered from challenging trading conditions in the oil and gas sector in recent years, which has impacted both sales levels and margin. Coupled with this, the company made a significant investment in a sizeable module just prior to the recent oil and gas downturn which led to a far longer financial commitment than had been anticipated due to contracting appetites for this type of bespoke acquisition.
As a result, the company began to experience a build-up of creditor arrears and required additional funding to address its working capital shortfall. The directors endeavoured to obtain funding from various sources and also implemented a sales process to seek to secure additional investment. Despite the director’s efforts there were no sources of funding available to address the immediate and significant funding need.
Ultimately, the only option was to be placed into administration to protect the creditors’ position as best as possible.
Following the sales process, a buyer was identified who submitted an offer to acquire the business and certain assets as a going concern immediately following the Administration appointment. The Joint Administrators fully assessed the position against all other options and determined that implementing an immediate sale was the best option available to maximise realisations and generate the best outcome for the creditors. This also ensured the business can continue to operate and the long-established client base can continue to be fully-supported.
Immediately following the Joint Administrators’ appointment, a sale of the business and certain assets to Global Energy Group was completed.
Blair Nimmo, Joint Administrator and Head of Restructuring for KPMG, said:
“We are very pleased to have concluded the sale of the business and certain assets to Global Energy Group, as this will provide the best outcome for the company’s creditors and clients, while protecting 55 out of 61 jobs. We also want to thank the Aiken directors and staff for their assistance during a challenging process. We wish Global Energy Group every success for the future.”
A spokesperson for Global Energy Group, said:
“We are delighted to conclude the purchase of this business, which brings complimentary skills to our existing business, and we look forward to working with the team to ensure we enjoy a long and successful future together.”
