ST Engineering acquires repair assets in the US

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) announced that the Group has acquired selected rig repair assets adjacent to its existing yard, VT Halter Marine (VT Halter Marine) in Pascagoula, Mississippi in the US, through its subsidiary Vision Technologies Marine (VT Marine). It has paid US$25m (about S$34m) for these assets of World Marine of Mississippi LLC (WMM), comprising a purpose-built facility of 94 acres for heavy marine fabrication, and offshore oil and gas rig upgrades, repairs and conversions.

Since the downturn of the offshore and marine industry, the Group has been looking to acquire assets that represent long-term value and can enhance its capabilities whilst offering scale advantages in the marine repair segment. The acquired assets, which are situated in a prime location in the Gulf of Mexico and with close proximity to VT Halter Marine’s Pascagoula yard enable the Group to leverage resources and derive greater synergies in its ship repair business.

The purchase consideration was funded internally and was satisfied fully in cash at closing, and was arrived at, after arm’s length negotiations between the parties, taking into account asset values, current financial performance and future growth prospects. The unaudited net book value of the fixed assets of WMM as at 31 December 2016 was about US$14m (about S$19m). This acquisition is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.