THE American owner of Wood Mackenzie has bought another energy consultancy in a bumper deal it said would increase the growth potential of the Edinburgh-based business.

Verisk Analytics has agreed to acquire the Genscape information business from publishing group DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust) for $364 million cash (£300m).

The deal has been agreed four years after Verisk bought oil and gas market specialist Wood Mackenzie in a £1.85 billon deal.

Read more: US buyer of Wood Mackenzie says £1.85bn deal not about cost-cutting

Verisk said Genscape will become part of Wood Mackenzie and will enhance its existing sector intelligence in energy data and analytics.

Kentucky-based Genscape says it operates the world’s largest network of in-field monitors. These gather information on the flow of commodities such as oil through the global supply chain. It also covers sectors such as agriculture, biofuels, and maritime freight.

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Wood Mackenzie president Neal Anderson noted: “There is limited overlap between Wood Mackenzie’s customer base and the 1,300 customers that Genscape serves. This creates a significant opportunity to use our existing solutions for cross-sell to customers of the two businesses.”

Genscape has annual sales of $100m plus. It employs 300 people across the world.