HitecVision sells Noble Denton

Noble Denton Group, an offshore and shipping engineering company, has been acquired by German peer Germanischer Lloyd (GL) for an undisclosed sum from Norwegian private equity firm HitecVision.

HitecVision invested Noble Denton in 2006 in a joint investment with Ferncliff, a Norwegian investment company that is also selling to GL.

Over the last three years, the London-headquartered business has more than trebled in size and quadrupled profitability. It published revenues of £100m for 2008, and employs

900 staff at 27 different locations in 14 countries throughout the world.

The company also embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy, acquiring a number of other operators in the sector: Martech Unlimited, BOMEL Consultants, Intelligent Decisions, Poseidon Maritime, Lowe Offshore International, Standard Engineering and Brevik Engineering.