Sembmarine said in a press release that its unit Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard (SMIY) had entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the Norwegian company for the acquisition of the latter’s interests and title to all its intellectual property, the acquisition of a 95% equity interest in its HiLoad LNG unit which holds certain intellectual property rights and the takeover of all operating and associated costs, including unexpired leases, in maintaining Sevan Marine's three office locations as well as the transfer of 26 Sevan Marine employees, subject to their acceptance. Sembmarine also agreed to drop litigation against Sevan Marine in the US courts over IP rights infringements if the deal goes through.
SMIY will further undertake to take over some of Sevan Marine’s existing service contracts and provide engineering services to some of Sevan’s existing contract partners which have outstanding licence fees payable to Sevan Marine. HiLoad LNG will subsequently become a subsidiary of Sembmarine after the deal.
The deal is set to be completed by Dec 31, 2018 and Sembmarine has first right of refusal to any competing offer higher than 10% of what it is offering. However Sembmarine will continue with its lawsuit in such an event, the company said.
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Oslo-listed Sevan Marine is mainly involved in the design, engineering and project execution of floating units for offshore applications and specialises in a cylindrical platform used for floating production and drilling.
“Through the strategic acquisition of Sevan Marine’s intellectual property rights, the long-standing dispute over infringement of each other’s IP can be resolved,” Sembmarine said.
It added that after the acquisition, “Sembcorp Marine will be well placed with a suite of intellectual properties and knowledge to execute leading-edge design and engineering solutions for the global offshore and marine sectors. This puts the Company in a better position to offer alternative solutions to customers and partners.”
The deal will be funded through a combination of internal funds and bank financing.
Sevan Marine had been working with former Sembmarine associate Cosco Shipping (Singapore), the former shipbuilding arm of the Cosco group to build floating platforms for its drilling unit but the projects had been plagued by delays and other issues.
Sembmarine has since divested its stake in the Cosco yard arm and the unit itself has also left the shipbuilding business.
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