Oilfield Service Companies: Hunting plc

Hunting plc is a leading British-based supplier to the oiland gas industry. Some 27% of the business is owned by the Hunting family. It is headquartered in London and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The business was founded by Charles Hunting, a veterinary surgeon, in 1874 as a shipping business. The business, originally known as Hunting & Pattison, was managed by the founder's son, Charles Samuel Hunting, and comprised two sailing ships, the Genii and the Sylvia. In the 1890s the company invested in oil tankers and became a tanker broker.

In the 1930s and 1940s, it diversified into aircraft maintenance and manufacturing as well as air transport, establishing Hunting Aircraft in 1944 by the purchase of Percival Aircraft: this business was absorbed into the British Aircraft Corporation in 1959.^[6]

At the end of 1945, Hunting entered the airline business and established Hunting Air Travel Ltd, a business headquartered at Luton Airport. The new airline began commercial operations from Bovingdon Airport at the start of 1946. In 1951, Hunting Air Travel changed its name to Hunting Air Transport. Another change of name occurred in late-1953, when Hunting Air Transport became Hunting-Clan Air Transport. This change of name resulted from the Hunting family's decision to split the group and to transfer their airline business to a new holding company which they had set up together with the Scottish Clan Line, a rival shipping company owned by the Cayzer family.

In the 1990s, Hunting became involved in defence contracts, notably, in 1993, being a member of the winning consortium contracted to manage the Atomic Weapons Establishment, a contract that lasted until 2003. More recently, it refocused on its core oil and gas activities.

In December 2008, it completed the disposal of Gibson Energy, its operation transporting and marketing Crude_oil" style="background-image: none; color: rgb(6,69,173); text-decoration: none; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial" title="Crude oil">crude oilin Canada, for a total consideration of £517m. On 16 August 2010, Hunting PLC announces the acquisition of Innova-Extel Acquisition Holdings Inc. for a cash consideration of US$125 million. On 12 August 2011 Hunting announced the acquisition of Dearborn Precision Tubular Products for US83.5 million.

Current operations

Today Hunting's business comprises oil well construction as well as the completion and supply of oil platformaccessories.