Teekay Offshore acquires ALP Maritime Services and orders four long-haul towage newbuildings
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. today announced that it has agreed to acquire ALP Maritime Services B.V. (ALP), a Netherlands-based provider of long-haul ocean towage and offshore installation services to the global offshore oil and gas industry. ALP currently provides these services through a fleet of third-party owned vessels. As part of the transaction, Teekay Offshore and ALP have ordered four state-of-the-art towing and anchor handling vessel newbuildings, which will be capable of ultra-long distance towing, offshore installation and decommissioning of large floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) units and floating drill rigs, the company said in its press release.
Teekay Offshore and ALP have entered into an agreement with Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair of Japan for the construction of four state-of-the-art SX-157 Ulstein Design ultra-long distance towing and anchor handling vessel newbuildings, which will be equipped with dynamic positioning capability, for a fully built-up cost of approximately $260 million, which includes the cost of acquiring ALP.
The Partnership intends to finance the ALP acquisition and initial newbuilding payments through its existing liquidity and expects to secure long-term debt financing for the vessels prior to their deliveries in 2016.
"The strong fundamentals in offshore oil and gas, combined with the large orderbook of floating offshore assets including FPSOs, FLNGs and drill rigs, are expected to result in strong demand for the services of long-haul towing and anchoring handling vessels," commented Peter Evensen, Chief Executive Officer of Teekay Offshore GP LLC. "We believe ALP's operational capabilities and customer relationships in the growing long-haul ocean towage and offshore unit installation segment is a natural complement to Teekay Offshore's existing offshore project offering, which will provide the Partnership with another channel for accretive cash flow growth."
"We are excited to bring the next generation of versatile, ultra-powerful offshore vessels to the world-wide long distance towage market," commented Paul Mulder, Chief Executive Officer of ALP. "As part of the Teekay family, ALP will be better positioned for the future growth we anticipate in our core towage and installation business and to develop new tailor-made service offerings that provide value for our customers."
The proposed acquisition, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014, has been approved by the Teekay Offshore and ALP boards of directors, and remains subject to customary closing conditions. Teekay Offshore and ALP were advised on this transaction by ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
About Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is an international provider of marine transportation, oil production and storage services to the offshore oil industry focusing on the fast-growing, deepwater offshore oil regions of the North Sea and Brazil. Teekay Offshore is structured as a publicly-traded master limited partnership (MLP) and currently owns interests in 34 shuttle tankers (including two chartered-in vessels), five floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, six floating storage and offtake (FSO) units (including one committed FSO conversion unit), four conventional oil tankers and one HiLoad Dynamic Positioning (DP) unit. The majority of Teekay Offshore's fleet is employed on long-term, stable contracts. In addition, Teekay Offshore has rights to participate in certain other FPSO, shuttle tanker and HiLoad DP opportunities provided by Teekay Corporation , Sevan Marine ASA and Remora AS.