AYRSHIRE-based engineering firm Booth Welsh has been sold to Australian company Clough for £9 million in a deal likely to value managing director Martin Welsh's stake at several million pounds.

Booth Welsh, which employs 250 staff in Stevenston, said the deal will open a number of "shop windows" for its services around the world.

And it hopes to build a bigger presence in the oil and gas sector thanks to the expertise brought by its new owner in that field.

Clough has nearly 4,000 staff working in liquefied natural gas projects at operating centres in Australia, Asia, Africa, Papua New Guinea, the US and the UK.

Martin Welsh, who led a management buyout to acquire Booth Welsh from his parents in 2011, held more than 50 per cent of the shares in the company.

The most recent accounts available for Booth Welsh at Companies House show it made pre-tax profits of £695,263 in the year ending September 30, with net standing at £1.27 million at that date.

Mr Welsh said: "The acquisition has been a strategic move for Booth Welsh, but it is also a good move for myself too."

Clough, which opened an engineering centre in Glasgow in April, said the acquisition will boost its expansion plans in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where it sees significant opportunities for its engineering, commissioning and brownfield services.

Mr Welsh said the deal stemmed from talks the two companies had over exploring a joint venture in the oil and gas sector. Those talks developed into discussions over an outright acquisition in January.

Mr Welsh, who will remain as managing director of Booth Welsh, and retain the current management team, said: "They [Clough] were also looking for more of a hold in instrumentation, electrical and control systems, where we have a strong speciality.

"The acquisition for them brings a centre of excellence for that work, and it also gives us a lot of shops fronts all over the world because they are truly global.

"They have a lot of offices in different regions in different countries, and it gives us access to mechanical, piping [and] project management services which underpin and complement what we have here already."

The acquisition comes as Booth Welsh, which won The Herald Family Business Award for international growth in 2012, is forecasting annual growth of 15 per cent in the next three years.

The expansion has led it to invest in bigger premises in Irvine, with the company due to move into the 4,000 square metre facility next month. This will bring it closer to GlaxoSmithKline, its biggest customer.

While life sciences and power and utilities are currently the company's biggest markets, he said it has a wide portfolio, taking in the whisky industry for companies such as Diageo, and defence.

He sees a big opportunity in oil and gas following the Clough deal.

Mr Welsh said: "For Booth Welsh we do less than 12 per cent [in] oil and gas.

"That's an area for us, as a Scottish company, we should be more heavily into, especially with the specialisms we have in instrumentation, electrical and control systems. Being now with Clough, who are a leader in that field, it definitely is going to grow that sector."

Mr Welsh also said the deal would be positive for the company's staff, offering them opportunities outside the UK as well as for personal development.

Clough chief executive and managing director Kevin Gallagher said: "Booth Welsh will become a centre for highly specialised electrical, instrumentation and automation design. The company's controls and asset management capability will enhance Clough's operations and maintenance services."