Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solutions has agreed to buy a Dubai-based oil services firm, hoping to improve its recent weak track record of winning contracts in the world's top oil producing region.

Aker Solutions has agreed to buy NPS Energy, part of oilfield services company National Petroleum Services, for an equity value of $350 million plus around $110 million in net interest bearing debt, it said in a statement on Monday.

'In order to succeed in the region, we need a strong distribution platform and well established customer relationships managed by a management team with a proven track record. Basically, this is what we achieve by acquiring NPS Energy,' Executive Chairman Oeyvind Eriksen said.

Aker Solutions has focused primarily on well intervention services in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia, but has been seeking to expand in the region.

'Despite ... recent successes and the fact that we have technology and products in our portfolio which is highly relevant for oil and gas fields in the region, we have to admit that our success rate in recent tendering has been fairly low,' Eriksen said.

'With the added local presence and the NPS management's deeper understanding of the market in the region, we expect to be able to target opportunities with much greater precision in the future,' Eriksen added.

NPS Energy employs around 900 people and offers specialised services, such as coil tubing, wire-line services, cementing, pressure pumping, well logging and testing.

For 2012, NPS Energy expects earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $48 million.-Reuters