Shelf Drilling Holdings has acquired 38 shallow-water rigs from Transocean Ltd for $1.05 billion.
The purchase includes 37 jackup rigs, a swamp barge and the associated services, of which two are based in the UAE another five in Saudi Arabia and five in Egypt.
The company will immediately assume operations for seven of the rigs while the remaining 30 rigs will operate under transitional operating and services agreements with Transocean, with the goal of assuming full operations of the entire fleet by 2013.
“This transaction improves Transocean’s long-term competitiveness by effectively repositioning the company as a more focused operator of high-specification drilling equipment,” said Steven Newman, President and CEO of Transocean.
The $1.05 billion includes approximately $855 million in cash, subject to working capital and other closing adjustments, and $195 million in seller financing which comes in the form of preference shares issued by an affiliate of ShelfDrilling. Transocean will provide various transition support services to Shelf Drilling for a period of time subsequent to the closing of the transaction.
“We are exclusively focused on shallow water drilling, and we will seek to build a sustainable business that continues to grow to become the jackup drilling contractor of choice for our customers, employees and investors,” said David Mullen, chief executive officer of Shelf Drilling. “We intend to build on our workforce’s industry-leading track record of safety and operational excellence to allow us to build long-term relationships with our customers and suppliers,” he continued.
Dubai-based Shelf Drilling, is a newly-formed company sponsored equally by Castle Harlan, CHAMP Private Equity, and Lime Rock partners, it has operations in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Angola, Italy, Nigeria and parts of South East Asia.
Transocean specializes in deepwater and harsh environment drilling services and operates a fleet of 82 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 48 high-specification jackups.
The transaction was effected pursuant to the terms of the agreements signed on 9 September, 2012.
