Transocean to Sell off Shallow Water Rigs
Increasing its focus on deepwater, giant offshore drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. has inked a definitive agreements to sell 38 shallow water drilling rigs to a newly formed company Shelf Drilling International Holdings, Ltd., based in Dubai, for $855 million in cash and another $195 million in seller financing.
Shelf Drilling is a newly formed company sponsored equally by Castle Harlan, Inc., CHAMP Private Equity and Lime Rock Partners. Shelf Drilling will focus on shallow water drilling activity in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Nineteen the rigs to be acquired by Shelf Drilling are in Asia.
The seller financing will be in the form of preference shares issued by an affiliate of Shelf Drilling. As a component of the agreement, Transocean will provide various transition support services to Shelf Drilling for a period subsequent to the closing of the transactions. The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to certain conditions.
"This agreement marks an important milestone in our asset strategy to increase our focus on high-specification floaters and jackups, improving our long-term competitiveness," said Steven L. Newman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transocean Ltd.
David Mullen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shelf Drilling, added, "This is an exciting opportunity with great potential. Our strategy will be to maintain an exclusive focus on shallow water drilling, leveraging decades of complementary industry experience of management, three leading investment firms, and our employees, to provide best in class drilling operations for our customers."
As of today, Transocean, which has corporate offices in Zug, Switzerland, Houston, TX, and the Cayman Islands, owns or has partial ownership interests in, and operates a fleet of, 115 mobile offshore drilling units. These consist of 48 Ultra-Deepwater, Deepwater and Harsh-Environment drilling rigs, 25 Midwater Floaters, nine High-Specification Jackups, 32 Standard Jackups and one swamp barge. Transocean also has two Ultra-Deepwater Drillships and three High-Specification Jackups under construction.
RIGS BEING ACQUIRED BY SHELF DRILLING
Jackups Design Year Entered Service (1) Water Depth (Feet) Location C.E. Thornton MLT 53-SC (converted to MLT 116-C) 1974 300 India Compact Driller MLT 116-C 1992 300 Thailand F.G. McClintock MLT 53-C 1975 300 India Galveston Key MLT 116-S (converted to 116CS) 1978 300 Malaysia GSF Adriatic I (3) MLT 116-C 1981 300 Malaysia GSF Adriatic IX MLT 116-C 1981 350 Nigeria GSF Adriatic V (3) MLT 116-C 1979 300 Gabon GSF Adriatic VI (3) MLT 116-C 1981 328 Malaysia GSF Adriatic X MLT 116-C 1982 350 Nigeria GSF Baltic MLT Super 300 1983 375 Nigeria GSF High Island II MLT 82-SD-C 1979 270 Saudi Arabia GSF High Island IV MLT 82-SD-C 1980/2001 270 Saudi Arabia GSF High Island IX (2) MLT 82-SD-C 1983 250 Saudi Arabia GSF High Island V (3) MLT 82-SD-C 1981 270 Gabon GSF High Island VII MLT 82-SD-C 1982 250 Cameroon GSF Key Gibraltar MLT 84-C (modified to 116-C) 1976/1996 300 Thailand GSF Key Hawaii Modec 300-C35 1982 300 Vietnam GSF Key Manhattan MLT 116-C 1980 350 Italy GSF Key Singapore (3) MLT 116-C 1982 350 Egypt GSF Main Pass I F&G L-780-Mod II 1982 300 Saudi Arabia GSF Main Pass IV F&G L-780-Mod II 1982 300 Saudi Arabia GSF Parameswara Baker Marine BMC-300-IC 1983 300 Indonesia GSF Rig 105 MLT 52-C 1975 250 Egypt GSF Rig 124 Modec 200C-45 1980 250 Egypt GSF Rig 141 MLT 82-SD-C 1982 250 Egypt Harvey H. Ward F&G L-780-Mod II 1981 300 Indonesia J.T. Angel F&G L-780-Mod II 1982 300 India Randolph Yost (2) MLT 116-C 1979 300 Shipyard Ron Tappmeyer MLT 116-C 1978 300 India Transocean Comet Sonat cantilever 1980 250 Egypt Trident 15 Modec 300 C-38 1982 300 Thailand Trident 16 Modec 300 C-38 1982 300 Thailand Trident II MLT 116-C 1977/1985 300 India Trident IX Modec 400 C-35 1982 400 Malaysia Trident VIII Modec 300 C-35 1981 300 Gabon Trident XII Baker Marine BMC-300-IC 1982/1992 300 India Trident XIV Baker Marine BMC-300-IC 1982/1994 300 Angola Swamp Barge Hibiscus Heavy Swamp Barge 1979/1993 25 Indonesia (1) Dates shown are the original service date and the date of the most recent upgrade, if any. (2) Rig is currently undergoing reactivation. (3) Rig is currently stacked.
