Viburnum in MPC buy

A consortium that includes local investment group Viburnum has acquired Queensland-based MPC Group, formerly known as Murphy Pipe and Civil Group, for an undisclosed sum.

Viburnum and Houston-based SCF Partners formed a consortium to acquire MPC.

This was the third time the two investment groups have teamed up, with other deals involving Shelf Subsea (which includes the former Cal Dive International Australia) and oil & gas services group Kinetic, formed in 2016 from the merger of Vause, Grizzly and Surtron.

MPC which was established in 2011 by Queensland contractors Jim Campbell, Brenton Euler and Tom Dermody.

The company, which provides pipeline solutions to the energy, water and mining sectors, was also part-owned by UK-based J. Murphy & Sons.

MPC chief executive John Smith said the group’s executive and management teams would remain fully in place.

“Essentially, there will be no change for our people or our clients, with MPC continuing to remain focused on delivering the same exceptional results it has become known for,” he said.

Mr Smith said the deal was a positive step forward and would allow further growth in its current business sectors, while facilitating future business expansion through Viburnum and SCF’s investment experience and capabilities.

Mainsheet Capital acted as corporate adviser to the founding Australian shareholders and led the three-way negotiations between the buyers, the Australian shareholders and J Murphy & Sons.

Mainsheet, led locally by Maurice Argento, said it attracted 18 bidders for the business, after running a sale process that attracted a mix of industry and private equity bidders.