The Directors of Solstad Offshore (SOFF), Farstad Shipping and Deep Sea Supply (DESSC) have signed plans for a merger to create the new OSV company »Solstad Farstad«.
The company will have a fleet of 154 offshore service vessels. The combined company will continue to play an impo[ds_preview]rtant role in the restructuring of the OSV industry. Aker Capital and John Fredriksen‘s Hemen Holding have industrial and financial expertise and will support »Solstad Farstad« in a demanding market with opportunities it was said.
The board of directors of SOFF, Farstad and DESSC are of the opinion that it is necessary to conduct a consolidation of the industry in which the companies are operating. Subject to the completion of the proposed combination (the »Combination«), the new consolidated group, »Solstad Farstad«, will build on the complementary strengths of the three companies, combining the existing Solstad‘s CSV capabilities with Farstad‘s AHTS experience and long-standing position in Brazil and Australia, together with DESSC‘s cost efficient PSV operating model.
The combined company will operate a global fleet of 33 CSV, 66 PSV and 55 AHTS vessels active in all key offshore regions. In addition, DESSC has ordered three aquaculture vessels through a joint venture (the »JV«) 50/50 owned by DESSC and Marine Harvest Norway. The proposed combination is expected to enable the realization of substantial synergies estimated to be in the range of 400-650 mill. NOK annually. »Solstad Farstad« will be headquartered out of Skudeneshavn, Norway.
