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Saudi Arabia’s oil drilling giant ADES Holding Company has received 99.6% shareholder approval for its merger with Norwegian rival Shelf Drilling.
The Tadawul-listed ADES said the approval from Shelf Drilling’s shareholders came on October 6, following an EGM for the revised cash consideration that saw oil drilling group increase its offer to buy the company at 18.50 Norwegian Krone ($1.88) per share, representing a 6% increase in the acquisition’s enterprise value.
The offer was revised from an earlier deal of NOK 14 per share or a total of NOK 3.9 billion ($379.33 million).
ADES International Holding, a subsidiary of ADES Holding Company, signed a transaction agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Shelf Drilling through a cash merger, with ADES International Cayman (BidCo) also participating.
The completion of the merger remains conditional upon fulfilment of customary closing conditions and other regulatory approvals with the closing expected to occur in Q4 2025.
Shelf Drilling is incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with its corporate headquarters in Dubai.
The combined group will have 83 offshore jack-up drilling rigs serving the international oil and gas industry.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
