Amec is to buy the UK’s largest private sector nuclear services business, NNC Holdings, for £25.3 million plus net debt of £12.7 million. The company hopes to reap the benefits both from decommissioning contracts, and from increased interest in nuclear power.
NNC, based in Cheshire and with offices in Canada, specialises in safety consultancy and engineering services for nuclear installations in the UK, Canada, and former Soviet Union. Employing around a thousand people, it has operated in South Africa, Lithuania, Russia and the Ukraine. Moreover, it has a non-nuclear business in the defence, environmental and oil and gas businesses, focusing on complex engineering problems.
The deal bolsters Amec’s already considerable nuclear expertise. It has worked extensively with BNFL at Sellafield and with UKAEA at Dounreay, and also provides specialist services to France’s nuclear industry. Its proprietary vitrification technology, GeoMelt, is currently being used on intermediate level wastes in the US, at the Hanford complex in WashingtonState.
However, it’s the UK market which is the focus of the NNC acquisition, says Amec chief executive Peter Mason. The private sector will soon have access to a £2 billion market for operations, maintenance and decommissioning services in the UK, he comments. ‘NNC’s reactor services division adds a new dimension to our portfolio and, with governments across the world seeking to re-invest in the nuclear industry, we are well placed to benefit from significant new international opportunities.’
