Adnoc Logistics & Services swept up Navig8 in a $1.5bn deal driven by a push to be more international and meet transport demands from its parent’s energy expansion, its chief executive said.
Adnoc L&S and Navig8 stole the show at Posidonia this morning in confirming the mega-deal uncovered by TradeWinds in January.
Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, chief executive of Adnoc L&S, explained that it has been moving away from being a local company focused on the Middle East to being more global.
“Navig8 is giving us that unique position,” he told the Capital Link Forum at Posidonia in response to questions from TradeWinds on the transaction.
“It is a very, very well-run, good-quality company with good-quality assets.
“Also the local presence, pooling arrangement, the technical management, that gives us a very good and quick access to a global platform.”
Al Masabi noted that the merger of Navig8 was made at the same time as parent Adnoc Group had been investing in new companies and projects in the US, Mozambique, Azerbaijan and Egypt.
“We need that large network actually to serve all these molecules that will come,” he said.
As TradeWinds reported this morning, Adnoc L&S is paying $1.04bn for an initial 80% slice of Navig8’s 32-strong tanker fleet and its pools and bunkering activities.
The final 20% will change hands in 2027 for a fee of up to $450m.
Navig8 was not the only deal confirmed by Adnoc L&S today.
Speaking today during a panel discussion at the Capital Link Maritime Leaders Forum, Al Masabi said the Abu Dhabicompany had signed for two first ammonia newbuildings last week, with options for two more.
Although further details were not revealed, TradeWinds reported last month that Adnoc L&S had kicked off its gas carrier order spree by signing for up to four LPG dual-fuel very large ammonia carriers at Jiangnan Shipyard in China.
Al Masabi said his company has close to 300 ships today and has invested more than $5bn in newbuildings in the past five years.
The investments fit Adnoc’s ambitious net-zero goals by 2025, with dual-fuel ships across LPG, LNG and the VLCC spaces highlighted.
TradeWinds first broke the news of Navig8 working on a sale in January in a deal that captured the imagination of the shipping market.
It was then a dealmaker’s dream to make the news official in the midst of Posidonia, the huge global shipping gathering in Greece.
