TRANSOCEAN announced today that it has agreed a deal to buy Norwegian offshore drilling competitor Songa Offshore for NOK 9.1bn (US$1.1bn).
Transocean’s CEO Jeremy Thigpen said the company’s order book would be increased by US$4.1bn to a total of US$14.3bn following the transaction, which is set to be mostly paid for in shares and convertible bonds.
He said: “With this combination, we add four new state-of-the-art Category-D semisubmersible rigs to our existing fleet, further enhancing our position in the harsh environment market.
“We also demonstrate our continued commitment to the Norwegian market and strengthen our technical and operational presence in that region.”
Songa, which is Norwegian oil giant Statoil’s largest drilling service provider, said that the combined company will establish a centre of excellence to serve the North Sea and other external harsh environment markets.
It added that 77% of shareholders have so far accepted the offer, which sets the company’s enterprise value at NOK 26.4bn, including debt.
The combined company will operate 51 mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of 30 ultra-deepwater floaters, 11 harsh environment floaters, three deepwater floaters and seven mid-water floaters. Transocean also has a further four ultra-deepwater drill-ships under construction, including two contracted with Shell for ten years each.
