Gulf Capital, a major private equity firm, has completed its acquisition of Kuiper Australia, a leading manpower outsourcing company in the offshore energy sector. The sale was a management buyout, supported by the National Bank of Australia.

Kuiper Group's CEO, Mark Somic, will continue to serve as CEO. This marks Gulf Capital's second exit this month, following the successful sale of Middle East Glass in Egypt.

The company also acquired Singapore-based Kuiper International, a dominant player in the offshore construction and maintenance services sector, with a stronghold in the Asia Pacific region and Australia.

Gulf Capital has a long track of expanding its Gulf companies across Asia, either through organic growth or bolt-on acquisitions.

Dr Karim El Solh, co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital said: "We have enjoyed working and partnering with the talented team at Kuiper Australia and building together the market leading business services platform for the offshore energy sector in Australia. The team is well placed to continue the growth of the business, and we wish the company further success in its new endeavours. We are happy to see Mark carry on as CEO of the rest of Kuiper Group in its operations abroad, while further building the new independent Australian business. Kuiper today has a remarkable franchise and a strong management team and is well positioned to continue its impressive growth trajectory in the future."

Somic said: "Gulf Capital has been an outstanding, high value-add partner as we embarked on our journey together and transformed Kuiper into the market leader it is today. Gulf Capital has been instrumental in shaping the company's growth strategy and in helping us to install the culture and processes required to enable us to grow and scale rapidly."