Norway getting offshore supply vessel giant on Thursday

Major Norwegian offshore vessel owners are set to complete the previously announced merger, with the new merged, company expected to start trading on the Oslo Exchange on Thursday.

The merger, between Deep Sea Supply, Farstad Shipping, and Solstad Offshore will create Solstad Farstad, a new OSV player in Norway with a fleet of 154 vessels, was first announced on February 6, 2017.

As for the fleet breakdown, it will include 33 CSV, 66 PSVs, and 55 AHTS vessels.

The merger is expected to be completed on Wednesday, June 21, after close of trading. At the same time, this means that June 21 is the last day when Farstad and Deep Sea Supply shares are trading. First day of trading of the merger shares will be June 22, 2017.

Announcing the merger decision back in February, Farstad said the combination would create the largest company in the high-end global offshore supply vessel industry. When including all vessel classes and lower spec vessels, the company ranks fourth globally, Farstad said at the time. Deep Sea Suppy said the proposed combination was a necessary structural measure in today’s OSV market.

As previously reported, the trio’s expectation is that the new consolidated group, “Solstad Farstad”, will build on the complementary strengths of the three companies, combining the existing Solstad Offshore’s CSV capabilities with Farstad Shipping’s AHTS experience, international presence and position in Brazil and Australia, together with Deep Sea Supply’s PSV operating model.

The combination will enable realization of substantial cost and revenue synergies in the range of NOK 400 -650 million annually, the companies said back in February.

Offshore Energy Today Staff