Norway's Odfjell family is buying Dutch offshore vessel owner Oceanteam as it eyes expansion in offshore wind markets.

The family's Farvatn holding company is to make a mandatory offer for Oslo-listed Oceanteam's shares as part of a merger it is engineering with Norwegian offshore cable contractor Passer Group.

The deal will see Oceanteam buy Passer by handing over 71.42m of its shares to Passer at NOK 3 each in a deal worth NOK 240m ($25m).

The move is part of the shipowner's new focus on a growing renewables and energy transition market.

Oceanteam called the merger "a significant first step" along this path.

Farvatn currently owns 85.43% of the shares in Passer, with the rest held by board members and employees of Passer, and staff at Farvatn.

Oceanteam is owned by Corinvest and Stichting Value Partners Family Office.

Passer is a leading provider of turnkey cable-handling solutions used in the production, transportation, laying and storage of large offshore cables.

Cryogenic solutions

The company also has a growing business within cryogenic insulation solutions for sustainable shipping.

In order to strengthen the combined group, Oceanteam intends to carry out a private placement of new shares raising gross proceeds of up to NOK 125m.

Of this, NOK 30m will be underwritten by Farvatn, NOK 20m by another fund called Melesio invest, and NOK 30m by Corinvest and Stichting.

This will trigger Farvatn's mandatory offer for the rest of Oceanteam.

Oceanteam also said its joint venture with France's Bourbon Offshore Norway is selling the 133-loa construction support vessel Southern Ocean (built 2010), one of two such vessels it owns.

After debt service, the sale will generate a positive cash flow, the company said.

Rapid changes ahead

Oceanteam said rapid electrification will transform the energy mix by 2050 and drive significant investments in offshore connectivity infrastructure.

"The combination of Oceanteam and Passer will create a leading provider of mission-critical solutions for handling of large offshore cables with a strong value proposition to clients and an attractive platform for further growth," the company added.

The overall strategy of the combined company will be to continue its successful transition from fossil to renewable with a strategic focus on the high-growth offshore renewable market, Oceanteam said.

The focus will be on Europe, Asia and the US.

Oceanteam chairman Keesjan Cordia and Passer chairman Tore Hopen said: "We are both very excited on writing this new chapter in both our companies’ history in a changing world."