Nuclear Engineering Services sold in £30 million deal

Company involved in UK's largest decommissioning project confirms acquisition by Ansaldo Nucleare

Nuclear Engineering Services (NES), a British company involved in one of the UK's largest nuclear decommissioning programmes, has been acquired by Ansaldo Nucleare, a subsidiary of Italian energy firm Ansaldo Energia Group, for £30 million.

Private Equity firm LDC sold its stake in NES to enable Ansaldo to acquire 100% of the company.

LDC took "a significant stake" in NES in 2009 and said the exit deal provided a return in excess of two times its original investment.

The Wolverhampton-based NES is responsible for a broad range of projects for the UK nuclear power industry and the defence sector. The business, which dates back to the 1950s, has provided equipment to all of the UK's nuclear power stations in both active and decommissioning phases, and is also heavily engaged in the design, construction and commissioning of three large silo emptying plants for remote material extraction at the Sellafield site.

NES managing director Mike Hawe said: “This provides a great opportunity for all of us here at NES, supporting and improving prospects for long term future success.”

Ansaldo added: “The deal with NES will enable Ansaldo Nucleare to offer an even broader range of services to meet the needs of international markets, not least in the UK where prospects are extremely promising, through extended capabilities in the decommissioning and new build nuclear plant sectors.”

NES employs 400 people across three centres in the UK, and has a turnover of more than £37 million posted for the financial year of 2013.

Ansaldo Nucleare specialises in nuclear component design and engineering services for clients in new power plant construction and is responsible for building the only reactor to enter service in Europe in the past 10 years. It is presently working in Argentina on safety upgrade and plant life extension (PLEX) projects and in Italy on the country’s decommissioning programme.