Bureau Veritas buys Inspectorate from 3i

The French certification company Bureau Veritas is to buy the British commodities testing and inspection company Inspectorate for £450m in a deal that it predicts will boost its earnings from this year.

The purchase from British-based Inspicio, which is majority owned by the private equity investor 3i, will put Bureau Veritas among the top three companies in a global market worth more than €5bn, Bureau Veritas said yesterday. Its rivals include the Swiss group SGS and Britain's Intertek.

Inspectorate was founded in Witham, Essex, in 1885. Its services include inspecting ships, terminals and pipelines for the oil and petrochemicals industry, a business provides three-fifths of its revenue, as well as analysing the composition of metals and minerals.