Senergy, a UAE-based energy services company, plans to hit the M&A trail after selling a controlling stake in the firm to the UK’s Lloyd’s Register, its chief executive James McCallum said yesterday.
With a capital boost from its new parent group, Senergy plans to use the acquisitions and organic growth to help achieve its target to increase its turnover by over two thirds to £200 million (Dh1.18 billion) by 2015.
Private equity firms have been busy in the Middle East acquiring oil service companies.
The Bahrain-based private equity firm Investcorp has bought stakes in Al Yusr Industrial Contracting, Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas services company, and Hydrasun, a Scottish supplier to the oil and gas sector. Senergy had held talks with a number of private equity firms before agreeing the deal with Lloyd’s Register.
The company, which has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hopes to make two to three acquisitions a year over the next three years in order to grow and help reach its targets.
“We look for companies that are a suitable platform ... that have a skill set we don’t have in a particular geographical market or have a skill set that deepens our existing capabilities,” Mr McCallum said.
“Initially we would hope to be successful in expanding our business into the Americas. Initially, we would use Houston as a springboard for building our capabilities.”
In the Americas, the firm already operates in Brazil, Columbia and Argentina.
After the Lloyd’s Register deal, Senergy now expects be able to target acquisitions in the £10m to £20m range compared to previously focusing on the £5m to £10m range.
“Clearly we have an extremely capable organisation functioning in Europe right now, we have an embryonic capability in Senergy developing in Asia and we want to strengthen it. We have an embryonic capability in the Americas and we want to strengthen that,” said Mr McCallum.
“So the focus of our acquisition is to build on where we have got an embryonic capability, so that we have a full service capability.”
It also expects Lloyd’s Register’s stake in the firm to rise to 100 per cent within three years.
“They [Lloyd’s Register] are a company with money and they want to grow in the energy space in which we have been growing and that’s as close to perfect fit as you get,” said Mr McCallum.
“The real overarching metric is that Lloyd’s Register group has a desire to achieve £1.5bn turnover by 2015/2016. Currently their turnover is £900m. We would hope to take our turnover from about £121m up to over £200m as part of that story.”
Senergy, which was first established in 2005, forecasts its turnover will reach £140m this year from continued growth in its services to the oil & gas sector which include operations in exploration and refining in about 105 countries spanning the Middle East, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Australia, South East-Asia and the Americas.
The firm operates in various fields including reservoir engineering, geosciences, power engineering and alternative energy solutions.
“Our biggest revenue generation is currently in the drilling space, we also develop significant revenue from the subsurface analysis, geoscience space and development solutions,” he added.
“Infrastructure design work around bringing a field development on stream, that’s becoming an increasingly interesting space for us.”
In the Middle East, the firm works with companies including Abu Dhabi’s Taqa and Mubadala. It also works with clients in Qatar and Yemen.
Lloyd’s Register provides advice and expertise in the energy and transportation sectors.
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Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Pathaan
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
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Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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Expert advice
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