The acquisition of RGIT, which specialises in providing training programmes in health and safety, offshore survival, firefighting and crisis management, comes less than a year after a £11.4m management buy-out of the company. Last April, Mel Keenan, RGITs chairman, Murray Strachan, the group managing director, and Martin Beard, the international development director, took over the company from a charitable trust directed by representatives of Robert Gordon University. Venture capital firm 3i financed the MBO, alongside Bank of Scotland, and became the majority shareholder in the new company. With its headquarters in Aberdeen, RGIT has operational bases in the Gulf of Mexico, the Asian Pacific, Trinidad and the Caspian Sea. In October, it signed an exclusive three-year contract with global science giant Du Pont as the single provider of its "STOP" training in the North Sea sector of the oil and gas industry. Petrofac yesterday announced that the takeover, together with last years acquisition of Chrysalis Learning, a competence and production training business, would lead to the creation of a new training division within Petrofac, which would offer "an unmatched total training solution" for the international oil and gas industry. Ayman Asfari, the chief executive, said: "Training is increasingly a key element of our service offering and the creation of Petrofac Training is a logical extension for the group. We aim to become a global leader in technical and safety training, training management and consultancy services. "As part of the Petrofac group, we believe the business has considerable potential for continued development, particularly in international markets." He added that the 150 staff employed at RGIT would be unaffected by the takeover. Under the deal, the new Petrofac training division will be led by three of the current executives of RGIT. Strachan will become the arms managing director, with Beard as international and development director, and Scott Martin as finance director. Louise Ferguson will continue as managing director of Chrysalis Learning and will also be a director of Petrofac Training. However, Keenan, who led last years MBO, is to retire. Strachan said: "This is an exciting development. As part of Petrofac, we look forward to accelerating our existing growth plans as we develop into new geographical markets, delivering services that reward investment in training and competence through the enhancement of operational and safety performance." Robin Pinchbeck, the chairman of Petrofac Training, said: "We are delighted to be bringing the RGIT Montrose team into the Petrofac environment. We believe this acquisition will assist us to anticipate and serve the important markets emerging for technical training and competence management, as well as supporting our industry-leading outsourced facilities management services." PIN//Scotsman