Oil services giant Schlumberger has taken a stake in Tor Olav Troim's start-up rig company Borr Drilling.
It set up a new venture fund to make the investment, according to a statement by Schlumberger chief executive Paal Kibsgaard.
The aim is to secure more activity for the group, he added.
The size of the deal was not disclosed, but Norwegian financial daily Finansavisen reported that it had acquired a 20% stake for $220m.
"It's a nice vote of confidence," Troim told Finansavisen. He added the move would make Borr better equipped in the sector.
Investors subscribed for 228.6m new shares in the company in total, with Schlumberger the biggest participant.
Last week, Borr tapped capital markets for $800m to fund the purchase of the Transocean jack-up fleet.
Borr worked with Fearnley Securities, Clarksons Platou Securities and DNB Markets on the fundraiser to see through the transaction.
Completion of the swoop for 15 Transocean rigs for $1.35bn marks Borr’s second acquisition and its most significant play to date.
The deal, which is expected to close in May this year, is for 10 trading rigs and five newbuildings, as TradeWinds’s sister publication Upstream reported a couple of weeks ago.
For Transocean, the sale focuses it on being a deepwater, harsh-environment specialist.
Analysts at Arctic Securities said the deal was generally positive for Transocean and cut its capital expenditure requirements by around $1.1bn.
Borr’s latest fundraiser continues a busy period for Troim, with Golar LNG and its MLP Golar LNG Partners having raised over $770m from the capital markets this year.
Borr first raised money in late 2016, collecting $155m from a private placement to buy two rigs from Hercules Offshore.
