Poten & Partners has swooped in to take on the bulk of the employees from gas specialist Wavespec after they were left stranded following Braemar Shipping Services’ sale of their company collapsed.
Poten has set up a new marine and terminals business arm to accommodate them.
At least five of the eight Wavespec staff are joining Poten in a swift move by the brokerage and consultancy firm that was wrapped up in just a week.
Three of the employees — former Wavespec managing partner Sheila McClain, Constantyn Gieskes and Andy Bright — started work on Thursday 1 July.
McClain and Gieskes are based in Poten's Houston office, with Bright working out of the UK. They will be joined shortly by Alan Hatfield and David Hatch.
The team will work under the leadership of McClain, who becomes global manager of the new Terminal & Marine Engineering Group. The group reports to Poten’s global head of LNG consulting, Steve Thompson.
Excited
“We are very excited to welcome Sheila McClain and her world-class team to Poten,” company chief executive Steven Garten said.
“This new Terminal & Marine Engineering Group expands on our existing staff of almost 100 brokers and consultants focused exclusively on the LNG industry.”
McClain, who joined Wavespec 12 years ago, said the two companies complement each other.
She said Poten brings stability and resources that will help grow the business, with Wavespec able to offer the technical expertise.
Braemar sold Wavespec on 1 April for an agreed £2.635m ($3.63m) as it disposed of the last of its non-core assets.
Investment fund Cosmos SICAV, which is managed by Abalone Asset Management, was later named by Wavespec as the purchaser.
But, as TradeWinds reported, the buyer did not put any cash into the business and staff went unpaid.
In June, Braemar announced that it expects not to be paid by the buyer and it will likely make a loss of £900,000 on the deal.
Industry sources said when word got out that the Wavespec team were adrift, there was something of a scuffle to employ them.
Expansion plans
Garten told TradeWinds: “This acquisition complements and extends our technical and marine advisory services, and leverages our core strength in the LNG and natural gas sectors, while positioning us for continued growth as the energy mix shifts towards renewables."
He said the new team has already been integrated into Poten’s consulting business, expanding its resources and capabilities.
“Our LNG financial and newbuilding clients will also gain an immediate benefit as we can now offer engineering and shipyard supervision services,” Garten added.
That, he said, will help clients decrease their time to market.
“We intend to expand the engineering business across all of our targeted markets, including LNG, LPG, crude and renewables, and identify opportunities for other bolt-on transactions,” Garten said.
“Our ownership structure within BGC Partners enables us to invest for the future and expand across the energy and transportation sectors.”
