A total of 14 oil and gas deals were completed by Simmons & Co in Aberdeen during 2012, the company has revealed, with the total value put at more than US $2.3 Bn – more than double the value of deals completed by the firm in the previous year.

The Aberdeen office of Simmons led these UK and international deals, which represent a significant share of the 48 M&A transactions completed by its parent company Simmons & Company International Group, said the company.

According to Simmons, it played a significant role in many of the most prominent transactions that took place across the oil and gas service sector in 2012, including deals in the subsea, well services, drilling and completions sectors.

Colin Welsh, chief executive officer at Simmons, stated: “Getting the best result for our clients in the current environment has been challenging because the market dynamics keep changing as new buyers emerge and the sector becomes more geographically diverse. It helps that we focus exclusively on energy because our market intelligence is always current.”

In the subsea sector the sale of Acteon to KKR and the divestment of GustoMSC by SBM to Parcom Capital were prominent deals.

Significant transactions in technology included the sales of Zenith, Red Spider Technology, Petrowell and Nessco to Lufkin, Halliburton, Weatherford and Rignet Inc. respectively.

On the buy side, Simmons represented Tetra Technologies Inc. in its acquisition of Aberdeen-based rig cooling specialists Optima, and assisted Phoenix Equity Partners in its acquisition of Gall Thomson Environmental in the flow control sector.

Welsh added: “The industry is undergoing an incredible amount of change and growth and we need to keep on top of that and respond appropriately if we are to continue to be entrusted with mandates like these and deliver results that are at the top end of our clients’ expectations.”