Clough buys Booth Welsh for $16m

Engineering and project services firm Clough has acquired Scotland-based engineering company Booth Welsh for $16 million.

The acquisition follows the establishment of Clough’s engineering centre in Glasgow earlier this year.

“Booth Welsh will become a centre for highly specialised electrical, instrumentation and automation design,” Clough chief executive officer Kevin Gallagher said.

“The company’s controls and asset management capability will enhance Clough’s operations and maintenance services, while their specialisation in control system design will assist the CloughCoens commissioning business in Korea with design, delivery and commissioning activities.”

Booth Welsh, headquartered in Ayrshire in south Scotland, specialises in the provision of electrical, instrumentation and automation design, process consultancy, project management, implementation and commissioning services.

It has about 250 staff, most of whom are engineers and designers.

Mr Gallagher said the acquisition would bring complementary skills and strengthen its service offering to clients.

Booth Welsh managing director Martin Welsh said the acquisition would allow the company access to larger scopes of work in its current market sectors, while expanding into the oil and gas business on a global scale.

“We will draw on Clough’s strong engineering and project management capabilities to provide a comprehensive suite of engineering and design services to our clients,” Mr Welsh said. 

The news follows Clough's announcement in June that it had acquired US-based CH-IV International, a small liquefied natural gas engineering and consulting services provider, which gave Clough entry into the North American LNG market, further expanding its global portfolio.