Ausdrill sells Diamond, buys into HiSeis

Ausdrill has announced plans to sell its telecommunications subsidiary to private group Powerlines Plus (now part of GenusPlus Group), while also agreeing to take a majority stake, along with other investors, in mining technology company HiSeis.

Ausdrill will sell its Welshpool-based business, Diamond Communications, to Powerlines for an undisclosed amount.

Diamond, which was established in 1997, specialises in the design and construction of telecommunications and underground power infrastructure.

Ausdrill said Diamond would retain its current employee base following the transaction.

Meanwhile, Ausdrill said it had bought into Perth-based company HiSeis, along with a group of senior industry executives and other professional investors represented by Azure Capital and Sternship Advisors.

The group has agreed to take a majority stake in the mining company, which provides high-definition seismic technology services to hard-rock exploration.

The company was spun-out from Curtin University in 2009 to commercialise the work of professors Anton Kepic and Milovan Urosevic.

HiSeis’s client list includes Northern Star Resources, Independence Group, Evolution Mining and AngloGold Ashanti.

Curtin will retain a minority position in the company and continue to provide research support to the company.

Ausdrill said the two transactions were immaterial to the group, but aligned with the company’s strategy to focus on its core markets.