Rolls-Royce acquires R Brooks Associates

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has today announced the acquisition of R Brooks Associates, a leading specialist civil nuclear reactor services business in the United States.

Rolls-Royce has 50-years expertise in developing technically-advanced inspection, repair and refurbishment solutions for operational reactors. The acquisition of Brooks will further facilitate accelerated growth for Rolls-Royce in this important business sector.

Lawrie Haynes, Rolls-Royce President-Nuclear, said: "Our investment in Brooks is a further step towards growing our global civil nuclear business. Brooks has an enviable reputation for unique inspection technology and it has some of the best people in the industry. We look forward to welcoming them into our business".

Rolls-Royce has significant nuclear skills and supports a number of key phases of the nuclear programme, including the provision of technical and engineering support and advice to governments and utility operators. The Group's reactor support activity represents more than 50% of its civil nuclear business and includes support to operational reactors in 20 countries across Europe, North America and Asia.

Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for  use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.

As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,500 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.

Annual underlying revenues were £10.8 billion in 2010, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £61.4 billion at 30 June 2011, providing visibility of future levels of activity.

Rolls-Royce employs over 39,000 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.

In 2010, Rolls-Royce invested £923 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.

Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which connect the company's engineers with the forefront of scientific research.

Rolls-Royce has a large and highly experienced nuclear skills base with approximately 2,900 nuclear employees in the UK, France, US and Canada.

Rolls-Royce provides nuclear power utility vendors and operators with integrated, long-term solutions and support services spanning the whole reactor lifecycle, from concept design through to obsolescence management and plant life extension. With nuclear expertise including component manufacturing, licensing, project and supply chain management as well as world-class engineering, the company has been a key player in the industry for over 50 years.

Brooks is a market leader in secondary steam generator inspections in the US and has a well established presence in France. It is a trusted, innovative supplier of niche inspection and recovery solutions for the core of the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS). The company has 104 employees based in the US, France and UK.

The value of gross assets acquired by Rolls-Royce is US $14 million.