Acquisition

Acquisition

Intertek Group PLC

Intertek announces two Industrial Services acquisitions

Intertek Group plc (Intertek), the leading international provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries, announces two acquisitions in its Industrial Services division.

Aptech Engineering Services (‘Aptech’) is a US-based full-service engineering consultancy company that specialises in the life management of facilities, equipment, and infrastructure for clients in energy-related industries. The company was purchased from its management and employee shareholders for an initial cash consideration of USD 5.0 million (GBP 3.5 million). Further subsequent cash consideration payments of up to USD 2.0 million (GBP 1.4 million) and up to USD 6.0 million (GBP 4.2 million), dependant on financial performance, are payable in mid 2009 and in 2010 respectively.

Aptech provides risk-based inspection and consultancy services to businesses with new and ageing infrastructure. Aptech’s services help clients, such as petrochemical producers, energy companies, refineries, manufacturers and public utilities, to plan for the maintenance of equipment and infrastructure assets, to assess the risk of equipment failure, extend life-span and improve reliability. The increased complexity of plants over the last decade is driving demand for sophisticated risk-based preventative maintenance techniques to help businesses avoid significant costs from operational failure and disruption from ageing infrastructure.

Aptech has 90 employees with two main facilities in California and Texas and field staff in 10 other US states and in Alberta, Canada.

WISco Enterprises LP and affiliates (‘WISco’) provides inspection, expediting and co-ordination services globally that help oil and gas companies ensure the quality and timely delivery of new and existing infrastructure-related projects. The company was acquired from its management owners for a cash consideration of USD 26.5 million (GBP 18.5 million).

Demand for WISco’s services is growing as companies move to outsource more ‘non-core’ technical inspection work rather than maintain large pools of internal qualified resource and reduce their associated costs. Global investment in industrial infrastructure, including renewable energy is continuing and companies are increasingly using third-party expediting services to reduce the risk of delay costs associated with increasingly complex project supply chains and multiple suppliers. WISco also supports clients in meeting increasing safety and quality regulations requiring more inspections of projects and infrastructure to confirm compliance with regulations. WISco is headquartered in Houston, Texas with locations in the UK, Middle East and Asia. The company has 120 full-time staff and 600 freelance contractors worldwide.

Wolfhart Hauser, Chief Executive Officer of Intertek, commented:

“These two acquisitions are a strategic expansion of our industrial technical services and provide us with strength and market share in the US particularly. Demand for the services offered by Aptech and WISco is strong as clients seek to maintain ageing assets with cost-effective services, with both businesses expected to return high single-digit revenue growth in 2009. These acquisitions complement our existing technical and industrial services in Europe, and provide a suite of services and expertise that will be sold across our wider Group customer base.”

Contacts
Aston Swift / Sarah Ogilvie IntertekAston Swift / Sarah Ogilvie Intertek
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Richard Mountain / Sophie Kernon, Financial Dynamics
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[e-mail] / [e-mail]

Notes to Editors

ABOUT INTERTEK

Intertek (LSE: ITRK) is a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world. From auditing and inspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people are dedicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting their success in the global marketplace. Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 23,000 people in 110 countries around the world.

www.intertek.com