RENAISSANCE CONCLUDES A MAJOR ACQUISITION
ACQUISITION CREATES ONE OF THE TOP TEN OFFSHORE VESSEL OPERATORS WORLDWIDE
Renaissance Services SAOG (RENAISSANCE) through its 100% owned subsidiary Topaz Energy and Marine Ltd. Dubai (TOPAZ) has acquired the entire shareholding of BUE Marine Limited, UK (BUE). The deal was signed in Edinburgh on 15th July 2005. The outgoing shareholders of BUE included 3i Group plc, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Limited and 3 senior managers of the company. With this acquisition, the combined marine business of BUE and TOPAZ will rank amongst the top 10 offshore support vessel operators in the world with a geographical footprint in the Caspian, the Middle East and S.E. Asia.
RENAISSANCE had announced its intention to acquire BUE in June this year and has concluded the transaction in a few weeks thereafter.
BUE has its headquarters in the UK and currently operates primarily in the Caspian region. Established in 1991, BUE has historically provided and managed marine support vessels for the offshore oil & gas sector in the North Sea and the Caspian. In recent years, BUE has invested heavily and now operates a diversified fleet of 42 vessels comprising supply vessels, anchor-handling tugs, accommodation vessels, icebreakers, work barges, and utility boats. As part of its ambitious fleet expansion program, it has another 19 vessels and barges under construction in shipyards with further orders to follow. The enterprise value of the company.
including the current new build programme underway is in the region of USD 150 Million. BUE's current operations are supported by Lloyds TSB plc and Bank of Scotland.
TOPAZ is also in the offshore support vessel business and operates in the Middle East, S.E. Asia, and West Africa. The BUE and TOPAZ customer base comprises almost all the leading international oil & gas companies such as Shell, BP, Total, Statoil, Agip etc. with both companies having established a reputation as quality fleet operators.
The BUE group employs over 600 people. Key senior executives including their CEO will continue with the enlarged group. TOPAZ has total employee strength of around 1200 while RENAISSANCE has close to 3000 people working for it in various businesses.
RENAISSANCE acquired TOPAZ earlier this year to create one of the largest services companies in Oman with a diverse group of businesses. Based on the audited results, the combined turnover of the 2 companies for the year ended December 2004 was over USD 225 Million with Net Profit in excess of USD 40 Million. A key driver for the merger was to create a company, which would be able to grow rapidly in its principal businesses through acquisitions. BUE fits in with this plan and will contribute approximately another USD 100M of annual turnover to the group with commensurate profitability. The acquisition has involved an investment of approximately USD 40 Million via NICO Middle East Ltd, a TOPAZ subsidiary. This comprises purchase consideration for the shares as well as discharge of certain liabilities of BUE upon change of its shareholding. This transaction has been partially funded from additional borrowings by the group that have been provided by local and international banks.
From a strategic viewpoint, BUE is operating in a market that does not overlap with the current operations of Topaz, with substantial potential for further growth in this region for other businesses within the RENAISSANCE group.
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© Press Release 2005
