French engineering company Artelia has acquired Norwegian outfit Olav Olsen, which is active in the floating renewables sector.
Olav Olsen, which was founded in 1962, has a staff base of 110 employees, of which more than 90% are engineers.
The company leverages its expertise in fixed and floating structures to develop innovative solutions in wind, wave, tidal and offshore thermal energy.
Artelia chief executive Benoit Clocheret said: “The acquisition of Olav Olsen is fully in line with Artelia’s strategy to develop its business at a sustained but controlled pace to become a leader on the European market.
“Thanks to this merger, we now generate nearly 90% of our turnover in Europe, reinforcing our resilience in an uncertain and volatile world.
“After Artelia’s acquisition of a majority stake in Principia last July, Olav Olsen also offers us new development prospects in the very buoyant fixed and floating marine structures market.
“Confirming our world leadership in marine, port and offshore engineering, we are strengthening our resources and diversifying our offer to meet the increasing energy requirements around the world, with particularly strong growth on the international offshore wind power market.”
Olav Olsen chief executive Olav Weider said: “We want to continue our positive development without compromising our strong competence profile.
“We view the collaboration with Artelia’s international operations and MOE’s strong Scandinavian position as a springboard in this development.
“For us, it is very important to be able to offer our skilled employees opportunities to contribute to exciting and challenging projects.
“For our clients, Olav Olsen and MOE Norway will continue to be the companies they know, but now with access to enhanced cutting-edge expertise.
“We are very enthusiastic, but of course also excited to start a new chapter in the company’s exciting history.”
Olav Olsen has developed the OO-Star Wind Floater concept, an impression of which is illustrated.