Boart Longyear wireline core retrieval system, an innovation that revolutionized the diamond drilling industry by increasing productivity on the worksite and making tripping core from the bottom of the hole safer for the drilling assistant. Later named the Q Wireline System, the new core retrieval method introduced a level of productivity never before seen in the exploration drilling industry. In 1964 Longyear sold 25 percent of its family-owned stock to FACTS, a Luxembourg-based holding company owned jointly by Boart International and Christensen Diamond Products Company. Three years later FACTS exercised its option to purchase another 25 percent of Longyear's family stock. The
Boart Longyear In 2005, Boart Longyear was acquired by the private equity firms Advent International, Bain Capital, and several management investors. The headquarters were then moved to Salt Lake City. Since the sale by Anglo American, management has undertaken a number of ownership changes, restructuring initiatives, and acquisitions, establishing Boart Longyear as a global leader in mining exploration services and products. By October 2006, Advent sold Boart Longyear to the Australian investment firm, Macquarie Bank, and, in April 2007, Macquarie took Boart Longyear public in an A$2.3 billion IPO on the ASX stock exchange. Boart Longyear’s IPO was the second largest IPO