James Fisher and Sons plc (JFS), an engineering services company, has expanded its capabilities in the Middle East with the acquisition of Murjan Al-Sharq Marine Contracting LLC (MSMC)
The company stated that the acquisition brings a wealth of local expertise to the JFS group.
The move will add strategically important nearshore marine construction and maintenance capabilities to the JFS offer, supported by new, high-quality MSMC vessels and equipment and the existing shallow water fleet of the group.
Chris Clark, vice-president at MSMC, said, “I am looking forward to a promising future with JFS. It provides strength and stability to maintain our current growth and allow us to capture a larger market share.”
“The company is well positioned now, having recently deployed new marine assets from Damen shipyards for existing and upcoming projects. We will be performing marine services with the new fleet under the Saudi flag to support Saudi Aramco and Vision 2030,” he added.
Paul Whiley, regional director for James Fisher in the Middle East, explained, “James Fisher has a very good track record in the Middle East and the merger means that together, we can build on the last 10 years of development from MCSC to deliver well planned, multi-disciplined marine solutions to our clients.”
“This acquisition by JFS solidifies our expansion into the promising Saudi offshore sector. We have now combined our existing offshore capabilities with the nearshore strengths of MCSC to offer a truly unique range of services that will be capable of delivering complete project scopes to the main EPCs. The end result is cost and time efficiencies for our clients, who are now getting a single interface for complete project support,” he continued.
The merger follows the recent announcement of multi-million dollar contract awards to support a major contractor in the region and wider investment from JFS to develop a significant and permanent presence on the Arabian Peninsula, the company concluded.
