MMA Offshore buying Neptune Marine Services

Australian offshore support vessel company MMA Offshore is set to buy its compatriot offshore services provider Neptune Marine Services.

The two companies have signed a binding agreement whereby MMA Offshore will acquire the offshore inspection, maintenance, and repair specialist Neptune for $18.5 million in total.

Of the full sum, MMA Offshore will pay $5 million in cash and issue $13.5 million worth MMA shares to Neptune Marine Services.

ASX-listed, Perth-based Neptune services mainly Tier 1 oil and gas, and marine infrastructure clients through its operational centers in Australia, South East Asia and the UK.

The company’s key services include asset integrity and inspection; commercial diving; survey and positioning; shallow water ROVs; subsea, pipeline and topside engineering; subsea protection and stabilization, dry underwater welding; and manufacturing, assembly, and testing services

MMA Offshore’s Managing Director Jeffrey Weber said the Neptune business purchase was an important step in MMA’s strategy to expand its subsea service offering to existing and new clients.

He said: “Combining MMA’s vessel assets with NMS’s subsea equipment and technical expertise will result in a stronger service offering to both MMA’s and NMS’s existing clients and provide an opportunity for MMA to capture a greater proportion of the value chain.”

“Importantly, the services that NMS provides do not directly compete with our existing clients in the sector, and we continue to see these partnerships as a key platform in our subsea strategy going forward. The acquisition is expected to enhance MMA’s return on assets through packaging value-adding services to our vessels. As the offshore market improves, we expect the combined business to benefit from a recovery in offshore and subsea investment,” Weber said.

Neptune Marine Services’ CEO, Robin King, said: “The acquisition of the Neptune business by MMA provides NMS shareholders with an opportunity to retain an exposure to the combined business which offers synergies that will potentially provide new opportunities for the business in any sustained improvement in market conditions. Combining NMS’s subsea equipment and technical expertise with MMA’s vessel assets should result in a stronger service offering to
both NMS’s and MMA’s existing clients.”

The transaction is subject to approvals by Neptune’s shareholders at a general meeting in October, and certain other conditions.

Neptune’s board has said that the MMA transaction is in the best interests of Neptune and its shareholders in the absence of a superior proposal. The board has recommended that NMS shareholders vote in favor of the transaction at the upcoming general meeting.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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