Drilling equipment maker Mincon acquires Finnish business

The acquisition has been made to “further enhance” Mincon's manufacturing capability in the geotechnical and construction market.

It follows on from Mincon’s acquisition of PPV in 2017.

Lehti is already a significant manufacturing partner to the Clare-headquartered business, with Mincon accounting for approximately €9m of Lehti’s €13m in turnover last year.

The projected earnings for Lehti in respect of 2019 are €2.2m.

In a statement, Mincon said the partnership with Lehti has enabled it “to win and supply significant infrastructure projects in North America, Scandinavia, Asia and Russia.”

Joe Purcell, chief executive of Mincon, said: "This acquisition means that Mincon Nordic enters 2020 with the momentum provided by the contracts which we successfully won in 2019 and with superb reference sites for Mincon geotechnical products manufactured by Lehti.

We believe this acquisition will leave Mincon well placed to further expand in the attractive geotechnical market worldwide."

Mincon will pay €7m for Lehti on completion of the deal, with a further €0.5m payable in April this year and the final payment of €0.5m in April 2021.

Following the acquisition, the Lehti business will be fully combined into Mincon Nordic operations.

Mincon was established by Patrick Purcell back in 1977. The firm was floated on the stock market in 2013.

The family still owns around 57pc of the Shannon-based business, which designed and made the drill that helped free 33 trapped Chilean miners back in 2010.