By Amy-Jo Crowley and Emma-Victoria Farr
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Oakley Capital is weighing options, including a sale, for its Norwegian maritime training software company Ocean Technologies Group (OTG), three sources close to the matter told Reuters.
The London-based private equity firm has hired advisers at Houlihan Lokey and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to gauge interest in the business, which could be worth more than $1 billion, two of the people said.
Deliberations are at an early stage and Oakley Capital is planning an auction for the business over the summer, the sources added.
OTG referred a request for comment to Oakley Capital, which declined to comment. Goldman Sachs and Houlihan Lokey also declined to comment.
The provider of online courses, testing and compliance services for maritime professionals was formed in 2019 when Oakley Capital merged its Seagull and Videotel businesses into one entity.
OTG is targeting core profit of up to $50 million this year, one of the sources said, adding that large private equity firms are showing interest in the company and that a sale could prompt consolidation in a fragmented maritime services sector..
Under Oakley's ownership, OTG has already made a handful of acquisitions, most recently of Danish software company DanDocs.
($1 = 0.9272 euros)