New offshore driller takes two jack-up rigs from Hercules

Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Borr Drilling, formerly known as Magni Drilling, has taken delivery of two jack-up drilling rigs from the bankrupt drilling contractor, Hercules Offshore.  

Borr announced the delivery of two rigs last Tuesday, January 24. The jack-up rigs were renamed Frigg, formerly Hercules Resilience, and the Ran, formerly Hercules Triumph. The rigs are of a KFELS Super A class design, built by Keppel in Singapore, in 2013.

Borr Drilling was formed last year with the ambition of acquiring and operating drilling assets in order to take advantage of opportunities in a rapidly changing oil and gas industry. The company’s management includes former Seadrill CFO, Rune Magnus Lundetræ, who is now Borr CEO. The company’s COO, Svend Anton Maier, also worked for Seadrill in a period from 2007 until 2016.

The driller on December 19, 2016, completed its $155 million equity issue at $2 per share and was renamed from Magni Drilling to Borr Drilling. The proceeds from the placement were used to finance the acquisition of two Hercules Offshore’s jack-ups rigs announced by Hercules in early December.

Lundetræ said in December: “Through the acquisition of the two Super A class jack-ups, we have executed a very attractive entry into the drilling industry at close to historical low valuations. We believe Borr Drilling can serve as an effective operational platform to further drive and execute distressed asset investments to capitalize on the low assets prices and continued volatility in the offshore industry.”

The rigs were sold in their entirety, together with everything onboard, including all broached and unbroached provisions, spare parts and equipment onboard or onshore, rig site inventory, drawings, operating manuals, maintenance records, service contracts and all other documents pertaining to them for $130 million in cash.

Offshore Energy Today Staff