Rowan closes sale of two jack-up rigs to ARO Drilling

Offshore driller Rowan Companies has concluded the sale of two LeTourneau Tarzan Class jack-up rigs to ARO Drilling.

Rowan said on Wednesday that the Scooter Yeargain and the Hank Boswell jack-ups were sold to ARO Drilling.

The company added that the previously announced sale of the rigs was completed for approximately $90 million in cash and $176 million in shareholder notes from ARO Drilling.

In addition to Rowan’s 50% equity stake in ARO Drilling, Rowan now has a total of $445 million of shareholder notes from ARO Drilling.

By agreement between the parties, this transaction is effective as of October 1, 2018.

The Scooter Yeargain and Hank Boswell each will be deemed to begin a new three-year contract with Saudi Aramco as of the transaction completion date.

It is worth reminding that ARO Drilling started operations in October 2017 after Rowan Companies formed a the 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Aramco.

The agreement created a 50/50 JV to own, operate, and manage offshore drilling rigs in Saudi Arabia back in November 2016. Rowan committed to contribute three and Saudi Aramco two of its jack-up drilling rigs at the beginning of operations.

In August this year, ARO Drilling was awarded six three-year contracts by Saudi Aramco for Rowan jack-up rigs currently operating in Saudi Arabia.

In related news, offshore drillers Ensco and Rowan announced an all-stock merger agreement earlier this week creating an offshore drilling company with 82 offshore rigs in its fleet.