Sullivan Street Partners-backed Ancora continues its growth strategy with the acquisition of marine engineering and infrastructure specialist Red7Marine
Ancora Group has completed the acquisition of marine engineering specialist Red7Marine, a leading UK marine infrastructure and engineering work specialist, marking the first strategic acquisition since the group was acquired by Sullivan Street Partners.
Sullivan Street Partners, a UK-based private equity firm specialising in mid-market buy-outs, acquired the Ancora Group in March 2025 through the integration of Teignmouth Maritime Services, Hesselberg Erosion Protection and Marine Plant Hire. Ancora was established to bring together marine civils, erosion protection and specialist marine plant capability under a single structure and specialises in complex multi-disciplinary marine infrastructure projects across the UK’s ports, waterways and tidal coastal environments.
Founded in 1999, Red7Marine is a specialist marine engineering business headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk. Its work spans marine civils, flood defence, offshore renewables, cables and nuclear infrastructure. The business offers tailored support throughout a project’s lifecycle with an in-house engineering and fabrication team and a fleet of jack-up barges and marine plant.
This deal unites two of the UK’s leading marine engineering businesses and strengthens the Ancora Group’s self-delivery capabilities, particularly through Red7Marine’s fleet of specialist jack-up vessels. It will also broaden the group’s national geographic reach by adding a stronger presence on the south coast.
The acquisition supports SSP’s strategy of building a nationwide network of self-delivering marine contractors with specialist expertise, in-house capability and the scale to support complex infrastructure projects. The investment also reflects the increasing demand for resilient marine infrastructure, driven by climate-related pressures, ageing infrastructure and coastal protection needs.
Layton Tamberlin, Managing Partner at Sullivan Street Partners, commented, “We are pleased to support this important add-on for Ancora Group. Since we acquired the group in March last year, our long-term goal has been to build a national group of marine contractors with specialist capabilities. This acquisition is a clear step towards that goal, and we are delighted to bring a business with such a strong reputation into the Ancora Group.”
Simon Light, CEO of Ancora Group, said, “I am incredibly proud of what we, as Ancora Group, have achieved in our first year with Sullivan Street, with clients and communities continuing to face a complex combination of ageing assets, mounting climate, regulatory, geo-political and economic pressures. These challenges call for broader integrated solutions centred on deep levels of asset knowledge, specialist technical capability and the ability to work alongside clients and partners to deliver desired outcomes.
Red7Marine and Ancora together have over 100 years of highly specialist marine plant and civil engineering experience, delivering project outcomes across the UK’s coastal, inland and offshore environments. We are excited about the opportunities our joint capabilities will bring to our clients, employees and partners, and I am looking forward to taking the Group to ever greater heights.”
Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Sullivan Street and Ancora Group were supported by advisors Burges Salmon (legal counsel), RSM (financial diligence) and PWC (tax diligence).
