Sheffield-based heavy engineering company DavyMarkham has been acquired by Indian engineering procurement and construction company, Hindustan Dorr Oliver.
As a subsidiary of IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects, Hindustan Dorr Oliver (HDO) is involved in engineered solutions, technologies and installations in liquid-solid separation applications. The acquisition provides HDO with an entry into the Heavy Engineering sector.
DavyMarkham’s managing director, Kevin Parkin, who was named Business Person of the Year in the Sheffield Business Awards, and Financial Director, Duncan Hay, will continue in their current roles, along with the management team.
DavyMarkham is a 180 year old manufacturing company based in Sheffield, UK and is involved in the design, manufacture and assembly of large equipment used in the mining, quarrying, power generation, oil, gas and nuclear sectors; it supplies international markets with tunnelling and mine hoisting equipment, and also undertakes the machining of individual components weighing up to 350 tonnes.
“It is great news for DavyMarkham’s customers, employees and suppliers, since HDO along with its parent is financially very strong, very growth orientated and dedicates itself to continuous improvement in all fields of its business,” says Parkin. “There are considerable synergies between ourselves and Hindustan Dorr-Oliver, while IVRCL’s commercial aspirations in markets like nuclear energy match ours perfectly.”
DavyMarkham has been involved in a wide range of engineering and manufacturing around the world. Such projects have included the supply of the largest-ever steel mill stand for China and cutter heads for a variety of tunnelling projects including Niagara Falls hydroelectric project, railroad tunnels in China and an irrigation project under a tiger reserve in India.
In the mining industry, DavyMarkham has supplied more than 300 hoists across the world for a variety of environments, from the sub-zero winters of Northern Canada to the tropical temperatures of the gold coast of Ghana. Within the United Kingdom, it has worked on such landmark projects as the Channel Tunnel, London’s Heathrow Airport Control Tower, Thames Barrier and Underground tunnels, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and British Coal mine winders.
IVRCL is amongst the leaders of the Indian infrastructure industry, with a group turnover exceeding US$1 billion, and it owns a controlling stake in HDO. IVRCL Group has three listed entities in the Indian stock exchanges, NSE and BSE. HDO sees the acquisition as a platform for expanding into new sectors, using DavyMarkham’s corporate credentials and engineering expertise; it intends to leverage on this expertise and gain a foothold amongst domestic heavy engineering clients.
HDO intends to invest strategically in new plant and equipment at the Darnall works, continue the company’s successful apprentice training scheme and expand DavyMarkham’s sales and marketing infrastructure, in order to tap into opportunities in India. The IVRCL Group will introduce the Sheffield-based company to its existing international contacts.
