Australian Reef Pilots (ARP) has been bought out by its management, and received a private equity investment.

The company, which offers marine pilotage through the Great Barrier Reef, has been sold by Torres Industries to a consortium of employees.

“We know the business and our customers intimately and want to seize the opportunities we can see to grow and expand our services,” said Simon Meyjes, ceo of ARP, who led the management buy out.

At the same time Brisbane private equity firm Catapult Partners has made an investment in ARP.

“As an investor, we target management buyouts because it’s the purest form of management/investor alignment. A company with such a long history and stable financial performance is also an alluring investment thematic,” said Andrew Morgan, director of Catapult.

The company has 38 pilots working at four different stations, and has a 126 year history.