Following this week’s report by Bloomberg that Rowan is looking to buy Maersk Drilling business from Maersk, question has arisen on whether the bite is too big for Rowan to swallow.
Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Maersk Drilling’s value was around $4 billion.
Charlie Hockless , Senior Offshore Analyst at VesselsValue (VV), feels this might be too much for Rowan to digest, and that the U.S. offshore driller might target Maersk Drilling’s specific assets, if not the whole company.
“What will be interesting to see is whether the deal is too big for Rowan to complete, as Maersk’s fleet is of higher value than the current Rowan fleet…” he said.
Hockless added: “If the deal does not go through in its entirety, it is likely that Rowan will target Maersk jack-ups, with the intention of expanding their presence in the North Sea drilling market.”
Info on Maersk Drilling’s website shows the company currently has 23 offshore drilling rigs, of which 15 are jack-ups and the rest semi-subs and drillships.
According to Hockless, the merger, if it happens, would be a strong statement of intent from Rowan about the future of the offshore drilling market, in the week where oil prices have been at their highest since mid-2015.
Offshore Energy Today Staff