Houlihan Lokey Advises Ocean Technologies Group
Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Ocean Technologies Group (OTG), a portfolio company of Oakley Capital (Oakley), has agreed to be acquired by Lloyd’s Register. The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory clearance, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
OTG is a leading global provider of human capital management and operational software to the maritime industry. Today, it provides mission-critical training and compliance, operational, and HR software to c. 17,000 vessels and more than 1 million seafarers, helping to ensure compliance, drive performance, and increase efficiency.
Oakley invested in the business in 2019 through the parallel acquisition and combination of two e-learning providers to the maritime industry, Seagull and Videotel, demonstrating its ability to execute complex transactions. Oakley saw the opportunity to combine the two companies’ product development and technical resources and to increase investment in software solutions to better serve the multiple needs of a maritime industry undergoing rapid digital transformation.
Oakley Co-Founder and Managing Partner Peter Dubens said: “We have helped to transform OTG from a single product solution into a diversified, best-in-class platform and partner to the shipping industry, and a small but critical enabler for sea transport and trade. We look forward to seeing OTG’s continuing growth now as part of Lloyd’s Register. Our successful partnership with OTG reinforces our track record in the SaaS space. It demonstrates our ability to leverage M&A opportunities to help software businesses grow and diversify into new markets and to drive technological and organisational change that delivers transformational growth.”
Lloyd's Register CEO Nick Brown said: “This is a really transformative acquisition for Lloyd’s Register and our clients. For over 260 years we have provided trusted advice on the safety and performance of assets and vessels. The purchase of maritime voyage solutions provider OneOcean in 2022 gave us the digital capability to support and optimise the safe and compliant operations of vessels and now with the acquisition of OTG following its successful transformation under Oakley, we will be able to provide a strategic approach to attracting, developing, managing, and retaining maritime professionals at sea and ashore.”
Houlihan Lokey served as the co-lead financial advisor to Oakley Capital alongside Goldman Sachs. This transaction builds upon Houlihan Lokey’s market-leading position across the learning and HCM software sector as well as in GRC, transportation, and vertical software more broadly. Other transactions include the sale of RelyOn Nutec to Mubadala Capital; EmpowerMX to IFS; Atlas Knowledge to Mintra; Automotive Transformation Group to Keyloop; SupplyShift to Sphera; Totara to Tenzing; Trainor to Apave Group; Medifox Dan to ResMed; beqom to Sumeru Equity Partners; StormGeo to Alfa Laval; the acquisition of Seagull by Oakley Capital; and Marlowe’s GRC software and service assets by Inflexion.
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