The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its subsidiary ADNOC Drilling Company and Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (H&P), a global leader in rig technologies and drilling solutions, announced a strategic alliance that will see ADNOC Drilling acquire eight FlexRig® land rigs from H&P for $86.5 million. Following this transaction, H&P will make a $100 million cornerstone investment into ADNOC Drilling’s recently announced Initial Public Offering (IPO).
On September 6, 2021, ADNOC announced its intention to float a 7.5% minority stake of ADNOC Drilling on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange through an IPO. H&P’s cornerstone investment will be at the IPO price and is subject to a three-year lock-up.
These agreements are intended to further drive ADNOC Drilling’s growth and expansion as well as enhance its rig-based operational performance by providing access to the world-class H&P FlexRig® land rig fleet and leveraging H&P’s expertise and technologies.
“I am pleased to announce a strategic alliance with Helmerich & Payne, a globally renowned drilling solutions provider,” said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO. “This exciting alliance and value creation opportunity will provide ADNOC Drilling with access to new world-class rigs and services, enabling it to continue to support ADNOC in our ambitious production capacity expansion plans.
“H&P’s cornerstone investment in our planned ADNOC Drilling IPO further reinforces ADNOC’s continued success as a primary catalyst in attracting leading global investors and industry partners into Abu Dhabi and the UAE,” Jaber added.
“We are excited to enter into this strategic alliance with ADNOC Drilling and the value this alliance can create for both companies and stakeholders,” said John Lindsay, H&P’s President and CEO. “Our investment in ADNOC Drilling is an additional step in the execution of our international growth strategy to allocate additional capital outside the U.S. and serves as a testament of our belief in what ADNOC Drilling and H&P can achieve together. We look forward to partnering with ADNOC and ADNOC Drilling to help create a similar value proposition that we have for customers in the U.S. and other international locations.”
Moelis & Company acted as exclusive financial advisor to ADNOC. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to H&P.
