Norwegian seismic duo receives local clearance for merger

Norwegian seismic companies PGS and TGS have received clearance from the Norwegian Competition for their merger.

Back in September 2023, TGS and PGS announced their agreement on principal terms to combine the two firms and create a strong full-service energy data company. The companies’ shareholders gave their support for the merger in December.

As further announced on February 14, 2024, the merger has been subject to review by the competition authorities in the UK as well as in Norway.

With respect to Norway, the Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) provided its clearance for the merger, while the UK Competition Market Authority (CMA) is still in its phase I review. The deadline for the CMA to announce clearance or phase II review is June 11, 2024.

Rune Olav Pedersen, President and CEO of PGS said: “The Norwegian Competition Authorities decided in mid-February to assess the TGS-PGS merger transaction in a more detailed phase II review. Our impression is that they have done a thorough assessment, and we are pleased they have now approved the merger.”

On this basis, the parties said they expect and are working towards the completion of the merger occurring during the second quarter of 2024, as previously communicated. The completion of the merger otherwise remains conditional on the closing conditions described in the merger plan.

Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, said: “TGS has had a good dialogue with the Norwegian Competition Authority since announcement of the transaction and is pleased to have received the required clearance today. We now look forward to receiving clearance also from the UK authorities in due course, and moving towards completion of the merger.”

The merger is set to establish the combined company as a full-service geophysical data company with an offering in multi-client data, streamer data acquisition, ocean bottom node (OBN) data acquisition, imaging, and new energy data. According to the parties, the combined company sees significant growth opportunities in new energy with complementary technology offerings for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and offshore wind. 

Johansen and Larsen will continue as CEO and CFO post-transaction.