Miclyn Express Offshore to acquire 50% of Uniwise Towage Limited
Miclyn Express Offshore (ASX:MIO) (“MEO” or the "Company”) is pleased to announce that it has executed a Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire 50% of the shares in Uniwise Towage Limited (“UWT”) from Svitzer Asia Pte. Ltd. (“Svitzer”), a subsidiary of the global A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, the Company said in a press release.
Domiciled in Thailand, UWT operates a fleet of five state of the art Marine Support Vessels (MSVs) and Utility Vessels supporting tanker lifting, static tow, drilling rig activities, anchor handling, SPM maintenance, floating hose maintenance, cargo transportation, stand-by, fire-fighting and oil spill response. The vessels are all chartered long term to oil companies in Thailand. The business has been operating since 1999 as a joint venture between Svitzer and the Unithai Group, MEO’s existing joint venture partner in Uniwise Offshore (“UWO”). MEO has agreed to purchase all of Svitzers shares in UWT for a consideration of US$18.9 million. This transaction is not expected to have a material impact on MEO’s financial results for Financial Year 2014.
Miclyn Express Offshore is a leading provider of service vessels to the expanding offshore oil and gas industry, across South-East Asia, Australia and the Middle East. The Group charters a diverse range of OSVs, Crew/Utility Vessels, Tugs, Barges and Coastal Survey Vessels to a wide range of customers operating across all phases of the offshore oil and gas cycle, namely exploration, development and production, as well as project transportation and the offshore civil construction industry. The Group operates a vertically integrated business model through its vessel chartering and shipyard businesses. The shipyard provides in-house vessel newbuilding, conversion, repair and maintenance services, as well as third party vessel conversion, repair and maintenance services when spare capacity exists.