Harland and Wolff bought by UK energy firm InfraStrata

InfraStrata has signed heads of terms to purchase the principal assets of Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries Limited and Harland and Wolff Group Plc for a total consideration of £6 million.

Harland and Wolff went into administration in August. InfraStrata says it will retain the 79 employees who did not opt for voluntary redundancy earlier in the year, It also plans to "significantly increase" the workforce by "several hundred" over the next five years as it progresses the development of its infrastructure projects.

InfraStrata says the assets - a multi-purpose fabrication facility, quaysides and docking facilities in the port of Belfast area - area ideally suited for the energy infrastructure industry.

The acquisition will enable InfraStrata to bring in-house a large part of the fabrication requirements for the company’s Islandmagee Gas Storage Project and proposed FSRU project.

John Wood, CEO of InfraStrata, said: “Harland and Wolff is a landmark asset and its reputation as one of the finest multi-purpose fabrication facilities in Europe is testament to its highly skilled team in Belfast.

"This acquisition is a function of deep operational synergies between the various business segments of the Company with Harland and Wolff underpinning the construction economics of the Islandmagee Gas Storage Project and other future Projects. We are delighted to be able to retain 100 per cent of personnel who did not opt to take voluntary redundancy earlier this year.

“Our Islandmagee Gas Storage Project will benefit greatly from their expertise in the energy sector, both technically and economically, and we look forward to growing the workforce significantly in the coming years.

"While our core priority will be to deliver our flagship project in Islandmagee, we believe there are opportunities to welcome potential new clients due to the diverse skill set at the facility. This acquisition will clearly provide substantial advantages through vertical integration in addition to demonstrating our commitment to the Northern Irish economy, particularly in the post-Brexit era.”