Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. has agreed to sell its three pipelay vessels, the Caesar, Express, Intrepid and related equipment in separate transactions for total cash consideration of $252,750,000.
On October 15, 2012, Helix entered into an agreement to sell the Caesar, Express and related equipment to Coastal Trade Limited for a total of $238,250,000. The sale of these assets is expected to close in two stages as each vessel completes its existing contractual backlog. The Express closing is expected to occur in February 2013 and the Caesar closing is expected to occur in July 2013. Helix has received a $50 million deposit in connection with this transaction which is only refundable in limited circumstances. The closing of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
In a separate transaction, on September 26, 2012 Helix sold its pipelay vessel, Intrepid, to Stabbert Maritime Holdings, LLC for $14,500,000.
Helix will retain its Ingleside, Texas spoolbase facility and provide pipelay spooling services to the market.
Owen Kratz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Helix , stated, “As we previously discussed, our strategy is to aggressively invest and grow our Well Intervention and Robotics businesses. We see the divestiture of our pipelay fleet as an important step in accelerating our corporate strategy.”
[mappress] Press Release, October 17, 2012