Energy technology pioneer MTEM has been sold to global oil services company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) in a $275 million deal, achieving a strong exit for SEP which first invested in MTEM in 2004.

MTEM, which was a spinout from Edinburgh University, developed ground-breaking electromagnetic survey technology with the potential to deliver huge savings to oil companies by determining whether reservoirs contain oil and gas before they incur drilling costs. The company has proven the technology’s effectiveness in both onshore and offshore operations.

Petroleum Geo-Services is a world-leading geophysical company listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges. PGS provides a broad range of seismic and reservoir services and plans to accelerate the global commercialisation of MTEM’s technology.

David Sneddon, a Partner at SEP and Head of its energy technology group, said: "MTEM has been a great investment for us. The MTEM team have done a first class job in creating a business of real value and we are pleased that they have secured such a strong partner in PGS. MTEM will benefit greatly from being able to access the people and equipment it needs to rapidly deploy its technology.”

SEP first invested in MTEM when it had a team of just five people operating from a small laboratory. The company, led by Chief Executive Leon Walker, Chairman Bruce Dingwall and co-founders Professor Anton Ziolkowski and Dr Bruce Hobbs has now grown into a business employing close to 70 people with bases in Scotland, the United States and Canada.

Energy-related technology is one of SEP’s core investment areas alongside information technology and healthcare. SEP’s other promising energy-related investments include ARKeX which has developed innovative technology to enable oil companies to carry out accurate airborne searches, and Atraverda whose technology enables battery manufacturers to produce smaller, lighter, eco-friendly batteries.