Restructuring French offshore support vessel owner Bourbon has denied it will auction off 33 ships to US rival Tidewater.
The company was responding to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Tidewater's activist investor Bob Robotti, which said the Houston offshore giant had approved a plan to bid on the vessels should they go up for auction.
Bourbon was taken over by five of its bank creditors in January. They are represented by a new holding company called Societe Phoceenne de Participations (SPP).
A spokeswoman for Bourbon told TradeWinds that it has no intention of selling a large chunk of its fleet, preferring to focus on continuing operations under its new ownership.
SPP has said it will stick to Bourbon's earlier plan to increase efficiency and dispose of some non-core vessels, however.
"Of course, there are a few assets to sell. Every company has some assets to sell, but there is no big plan," she added.
Liquidation hearing postponed
After SPP's takeover in January, Bourbon's former holding company Bourbon Corp now has no assets and just one employee, its owner Jacques de Chateauvieux.
The Commercial Court of Marseilles had been set to rule on Bourbon Corporation's liquidation on Monday, but the hearing was postponed, again, to a later date.
The liquidation process could take up to two years in total.
SPP is converting €1.4bn ($1.55bn) of Bourbon's debt into equity and another €300m into bonds issued by SPP.
Tidewater was one of the companies interested in taking over Bourbon assets last year.
It owns 215 platform supply vessels, anchor handling tug supply ships, offshore tugs and others and worth $1.2bn according to VesselsValue, while Bourbon counts 207 OSVs worth a total of $1.03bn.
The SEC filings came as Robotti, head of New York-based Robotti & Company Advisors, hiked his position in Tidewater to 2.9m shares, or 9.2% of the company. In the filing, he commended the company for making a number of moves since he began his activist push in October.
Robotti backs chief executive
He applauded installing Quintin Kneen as chief executive, the company's paring down of its board to seven members from 10 and a plan to repurchase $125m in senior debt.
"This series of strategic moves hurt 2019 financial results but advances Tidewater as uniquely positioned," Robotti said in a filing.
"As long-term investors, we applaud these bold moves despite the market's failure to recognise the benefits from these actions let alone appreciate the company's differentiated financial position."
Tidewater shares were down $0.05, or 0.31%, to $15.96 in midday trading Thursday.
Since the new year, shares have slid from $19.03 and have traded as high as $20.24.
Robotti said utilisation rates and dayrates have been improving in the offshore sector and that consolidation was "a logical and achievable goal".
"[This] would further accelerate the realisation of free cash flow, capitalizing on its financial position, driving increased access to capital and opportunistic, per share value creation," he said.
When Robotti first took his position in Tidewater, he championed the company's ability to push consolidation — a much-desired, but difficult goal for the ailing sector, given the number of companies, private ownership and debt loads.
Then, he said there were "abundant potential merger candidates" and its 2018 consolidation with GulfMark shaved 40% off its administration costs.
