GreekForumer wrote:Greek company takes 30% stake in Ocean Rig
22 December 2007 - Issue : 761
Greece’s DryShips Inc, a global provider of marine transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, entered into an agreement to acquire approximately 30.4 percent of the issued and outstanding shares and voting rights in Norway-based drilling contractor Ocean Rig ASA, which owns and operates two ultra-deepwater rigs, for USD 405 million, the company reported.
In separate transactions, DryShips Chairman and CEO George Economou acquired about 4.4 percent of the share capital of Ocean Rig. He said, “Ocean Rig is uniquely positioned to immediately capitalize on the very strong demand for ultra-deepwater (UDW) drilling rigs that is expected to prevail over the next five to 10 years as exploration and production of fossil fuels moves further offshore into deeper waters.
On the back of these strong demand fundamentals, the current limited supply of UDW drilling rigs worldwide is expected to worsen over the next few years, resulting in significantly higher day rates for operators of these assets.”
The Eirik Raude is working in the US Gulf of Mexico under a charter with ExxonMobil that expires in July 2008. The Leiv Eiriksson is en route to the North Sea where it will begin a two-year charter with Shell.
DryShips intends to finance the investment with USD 162 million from cash on hand and the incurrence of USD 243 million in debt. There was no further information on the Greek company’s role in the Norwegian company.
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/81212.php
Primelead Limited (CYP) is the biggest shareholder at 30.4%.
http://www.ocean-rig.com/default.asp?fid=1042
Primelead Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of DryShips Inc.
Ultra-deep water ? Like around Cyprus ?
Food for thought!
Would that be further out than the 12 miles that Eric Dayi is proprietorial about?
