Venterra Group Plc, the offshore wind energy services business, today announces the acquisition of Balltec, a global provider of high integrity connectors for subsea and marine engineering in the renewable energy sector.
Venterra was formed to create a global services champion supporting the offshore wind industry’s rapid expansion and leading role in the energy transition. It is building a service offering across the windfarm lifecycle, comprising Engineer, Build and Support services through a combination of acquisition and investment to generate accelerated growth in the fast-expanding market.
Based in Morecambe, Lancashire, Balltec designs, manufactures and tests high integrity mechanical connectors for critical applications in the renewable energy and oil & gas sectors. The company provides products for cable protection, mooring, pipelines and heavy lifting and is a supplier of engineered systems for challenging projects, from concept to commissioning.
Products and systems are delivered for sale or rental on a global scale, with offshore wind installation and oilfield decommissioning projects representing the largest business sectors. Balltec has recently completed projects to supply 3,000 mT capacity internal lifting tools for a large, North Sea decommissioning project, multiple quick connection systems to notable offshore wind installation contractors, and a large volume of connectors used within the cable protection systems attached to offshore wind turbines.
Balltec was selected to complement the services already offered by leading equipment provider Osbit, an established member company in Venterra Group.
Rob Jewkes, Venterra’s Chief Executive Officer, said; “Balltec brings deep technical expertise and a history of innovation that fits our ethos of bringing the best marine engineering into the offshore wind industry. Balltec will partner with Osbit our bespoke equipment provider to offshore wind and together they will support the ‘Build’ phase of our growing range of services.”
Russell Benson, Managing Director of Balltec, said “Joining Venterra gives us a bigger platform from which to grow faster and across an even wider range of markets. Our marine and subsea engineering expertise in offshore wind positions us to play our role in the energy transition as it accelerates in the years ahead”.
Robbie Blakeman and Brendon Hayward, Osbit Joint Managing Directors, said; “We’re excited to support Russell and his team from Osbit, and to deliver enhanced value to our combined client-base.”