Euronext-listed Technip, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Coflexip Stena (Mauritius) Offshore Limited, has entered into binding agreements for divestment of majority stake in Seamec Limited, India to HAL Offshore Limited for up to Rs 246.62 crore ($40 million), as per a company statement.
Seamec is India’s leading provider of diving support vessel based diving services globally. It owns and operates a fleet of five diving support vessels for providing support services including marine, construction and diving services to offshore oilfields.
For the year ended March 31, 2013, it had revenues of Rs 337.3 crore with net profit of Rs 40.4 crore.
The deal involves sale of at least 51 per cent and up to 75 per cent of Seamec (depending on the success of the open offer). Technip owns 75 per cent of Seamec.
It has triggered an automatic open offer.
The transaction involves sale of shares at Rs 97 a unit, which is also the open offer price. If Technip sells only 51 per cent it will mean a deal worth around $27 million.
Seamec shares ended the day at Rs 99.5 a unit, down 0.65 per cent on BSE in a flat Mumbai market on Tuesday.
This divestment is part of Technip’s strategy to concentrate on its core competencies involving deepest subsea complex, deepwater oil and gas developments, as per the statement.
Technip continues to invest in and grow its projects and deepwater businesses in India. Technip employs nearly 3,000-strong workforce in India, focusing on onshore and offshore technologies and projects so as to grow in the deepwater subsea sector.
Technip is a large global player in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry. Present in 48 countries, Technip has industrial assets on all continents and operates a fleet of specialised vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.
Ambit Corporate Finance is the exclusive financial advisor to Technip while Equirus Capital is the exclusive financial advisor to HAL Offshore on the transaction.
HAL Offshore is a solution provider of underwater services and EPC services to the Indian oil and gas industry. It owns two multi-purpose supply & support vessels (including one vessel with capabilities to provide diving support). It is part of M M Agrawal Group, having presence across diverse verticals such as bottling and marketing of soft drink under licence from Coca Cola besides hospitality and real estate.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)