PRESS RELEASE: UGM was founded in 1997 and has a workforce of approximately 200 employees. The business is headquartered near Newcastle, with operations in Queensland and New South Wales.

The acquisition will grow Bis' existing underground services business through the addition of UGM's highly skilled underground coal mining workforce. The acquisition also increases Bis' outsourced maintenance capability and grows Bis' equipment hire fleet, including the addition of production equipment.

The businesses acquired by Bis include UGM's mining services business, conveyor installation business, underground plant hire business and diesel services workshops. The transaction scope does not include the Highwall mining and Pipelion businesses, which the vendors will continue to own and operate under the ADDCAR brand.

Brad Rogers, CEO of Bis, said: "We are delighted to welcome the UGM team to our business. The deal delivers a ready-made expansion of our existing underground business, which already offers the biggest underground equipment hire fleet in Australia. We're thrilled at the opportunity to expand our plant hire and maintenance capacity through this acquisition. We're also looking forward to expanding our service offering through the addition of UGM's mining services business."

Mark Doyle, general manager, underground services at Bis, commented: "Bis and UGM have worked together for many years. The acquisition is a natural fit for our business and will deliver strong synergies to our combined customer base.

"With our customers in mind, the underground business added an in-house engineering team earlier this year. This experienced team has been focussed on designing and manufacturing industry leading assets to join our large hire fleet, providing superior quality and bespoke equipment options tailored to our customers' needs."

Rogers added that the UGM acquisition followed a successful recapitalisation for Bis which added new shareholders with significant global resources and a strong commitment to value creation.

"The UGM deal reflects Bis' clear growth strategy and helps deliver a critical element of that strategy - expansion of our underground capability for the benefit of Australian underground coal mining customers," he noted.

"We will continue to implement our business strategy, which focuses on expanding our existing business platforms, supported by the introduction of new and innovative proprietary products that will add value for our customers."