Norway's Shearwater GeoServices is forming a new seismic shipping alliance with Paris-listed CGG.
Shearwater will buy five high-end streamer vessels and two additional "legacy ships" jointly owned by CGG Marine Resources Norge and Norwegian company Eidesvik Offshore.
CGG will gain access to "strategic vessel capacity" for future multi-client projects, while Shearwater will have committed cashflow and activity for multiple years, the companies said.
Additionally, the term sheet covers the creation of a technology partnership, under the Sercel brand name and CGG’s majority ownership, for the development, manufacturing, commercialisation and support of marine streamer seismic acquisition systems.
CGG will continue to operate the vessels and execute on-going acquisition contracts and customer commitments until deal closure.
Position strengthened
“This transaction allows us to strengthen our position as a leading full-service marine geophysical company and a long-term industrial partner to our customers worldwide,“ said Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater.
“We are very pleased to partner with CGG and Sercel to create a preferred provider of state-of-the-art streamer technology to deliver the highest possible data quality to our customers.”
She added: “Through this partnership, we will collaborate with CGG, the leading provider of marine towed geophysical equipment to the open market known for their success in commercialising their products.
"This will enable us to bring our streamer technologies to the market faster, better and more cost efficiently.”
The aim is to sign final contracts before the end of this month and close the deal before 2020.
The transaction is subject to the lenders of Global Seismic Shipping (GSS), the shipowning company jointly held by CGG and Eidesvik, and a final agreement between CGG and Eidesvik.
CGG CEO Sophie Zurquiyah added: “We are delighted to enter into a strategic partnership with Shearwater and create the leader in marine streamer equipment under the Sercel brand with the combination of our proprietary technologies."
“Shearwater’s modern fleet, global scale, and efficient acquisition operations will also support CGG’s multi-client projects and provide more flexibility to execute our long-term asset light multi-client strategy.”
Eidesvik ends long partnership
Eidesvik Offshore said CGG will acquire its 50% holding in GSS and then sell 100% to Shearwater.
CGG will award Eidesvik an undisclosed number of Shearwater shares in return.
There is a put option for Eidesvik at $30m for this stock for up to 36 months after closing of the transaction.
Jan Fredrik Meling, CEO of Eidesvik Offshore, said: “The agreement will, when completed, mark the end of a 22-year partnership with CGG, and also the beginning of Eidesvik’s role as a shareholder in Shearwater.
"We have been impressed with what Shearwater has been able to build over a very short period of time, and we look forward to taking part in Shearwater’s future path as a shareholder in the company.”
The deal includes a five-year utilisation commitment for an annual minimum of two vessel-years over the period.
Following this transaction Shearwater will have a fleet of 23 ships.
It will also take over five complete streamer sets owned by CGG.
Shearwater is owned by Rasmussengruppen, GC Rieber Shipping and Schlumberger Norge.
TradeWinds reported last month that Rasmussengruppen appears to have hit the jackpot on its investment in Shearwater.
At the end of 2018, its 63.9% stake in Shearwater had a book value of nearly NOK 3.36bn ($380m). But, since then, the seismic market has strengthened and many of the company’s ships have gone on fresh contracts.
In the prior year, Rasmussen did not specify Shearwater’s stand-alone value but reported that its entire shipping and offshore portfolio totalled NOK 343m.
