UK engineering-services group Babcock International has acquired the Avincis aviation business from private-equity groups Invest-industrial and KKR for £920 million. Avincis employs more than 2,800 people in 10 countries, including 1,000 engineers and technicians. It is one of the world’s largest providers of helicopters for emergency missions, surveillance work and support for facilities such as offshore oil and gas rigs.

Investindustrial, an Italian-based investor that owns a stake in Aston Martin, invested 70 million euros in 2005 to buy Avincis, which was then a helicopter operator based in Alicante, Spain. It added acquisitions in Italy, France, Australia, Scandinavia and the UK. KKR bought a 49.9% stake from Investindustrial in 2010, in a deal that valued the company at about 700 million euros, including debt. Avincis later moved its HQ to the UK.

Peter Rogers, chief executive of Babcock, said: “The proposed acquisition of Avincis brings into the Babcock Group a market-leading business, delivering mission-critical services and complex engineering support to ‘blue chip’ customers in multiple geographies. Avincis already has a strong growth platform, and its combination with Babcock will generate even greater expansion opportunities.”

Babcock International, which has its HQ in London, has operations in Christchurch, Plymouth and Bristol.