Shipping-focused fund manager Pelagic Partners has bought 20% of Golden Energy Offshore Services (GEOS), which owns and operates a fleet of offshore support vessels.
Pelagic, which is based in Cyprus, said it bought 95m shares as part of a private placement led by Golden Energy’s largest shareholder, Oaktree Capital Management.
The investment will make Pelagic the second-largest shareholder in the Oslo-listed offshore shipowner, with a seat on its board of directors.
“The oil and gas industry is not new to us nor to our management,” Pelagic said in a statement on Monday. “We have been exploring different avenues to get involved in the offshore sector for more than a year without finding the right opportunity until now with GEOS.
“GEOS is a very exciting company with one of the youngest PSV fleets ready to capitalise on an accelerating market with plenty of room for growth.”
The offshore firm has a fleet of two multipurpose support vessels and two platform supply vessels, which together have an average age of 8.5 years.
Pelagic added that GEOS’ governance framework, senior leadership team and shareholder composition were what gave it confidence in the company’s future, and said it would share its “knowledge and expertise” with the offshore firm.
“Recognising the underinvestment in the general oil and gas market over the past five to seven years, we’ve strategically focused on modern and eco-friendly vessels, as they will be sought after in the years to come,” Pelagic said.
The investment was executed through the Pelagic Yield Fund compartment, which launched in early 2022 and has a target of $100m in assets under management. The compartment is still open for subscriptions, according to Pelagic’s website.
Pelagic was set up three years ago by Hartmann Group chief executive Niels Hartmann and Atef Abou Merhi of the family-owned shipowner Abou Merhi Group.
