SMD

About 

Inflexion backed subsea vehicle maker SMD to support its international growth and digital enhancement. The business was subsequently purchased by a Hong Kong-listed business, generating 2.2x money.  

SMD’s unmanned submarines, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), and engineering trenching equipment provide subsea intervention work in depths and conditions that are inaccessible for human divers. The company dominates the market for subsea vehicles, supplying the oil and gas sector as well as the telecoms, renewable energy, mining and defence industries by delivering bespoke equipment. 

Value acceleration 

Shortly after the investment, we bolstered the management team to allow the founder to step back and focus more on cutting-edge product development. We then worked closely with them to open a second UK factory and boost manufacturing capacity. We leveraged our experience in internationalising businesses to open sales offices in Singapore, the US and Brazil, and created a Digital Service Platform to provide an intelligent spare parts and servicing model to optimise the operational effectiveness of ROVs. This facilitated future ancillary earnings through monetising the data they captured.  

The business was sold to Hong Kong-listed Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Company and valued at £120m.