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SD Standard ETC, the investment company in which investor Øystein Stray Spetalen is the largest owner, buys 25 percent of the shares in the rig company Dolphin Drilling for ten million dollars, equivalent to 95 million kroner, through an issue of equity.
Standard also has options for another five million dollars, which can give the company a total of 32.5 percent of the company, it is stated in a stock exchange announcement.
Dolphin Drilling, formerly known as Fred. Olsen Energy, owns three rigs built for rough waters, and has secured the rights to two more that are under construction. The company currently has around 350 employees.
In the message from Standard ETC, Martin Nes, chairman of the board and Spetalen’s right hand man, says that today’s market provides opportunities for debt-free rig companies with assets ready for drilling. He also says that it will invest in the company’s existing fleet, as well as opportunities to operate rigs for other owners.
Nes and Spetalen join the board of Dolphin Drilling at the same time. Nes, who has worked in Spetalen’s companies for a number of years, is proposed as chairman of the board. The standard management did not want to comment further on Friday.
The standard share rose above 15 percent at most after the news.
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Seadrill Beiler
Dolphin Drilling was one of the companies that bid on some of Seadrill’s rigs while the competitor was in an extensive debt restructuring most of last year.
Before Spetalen and Standard came on the scene, the hedge fund Strategic Value Partners owned over 90 percent of Dolphin. At the same time, SVP had a smaller position in Seadrill’s bank debt, and was the creditor that most of all challenged the company’s rescue plan. In the end, SVP declined, in exchange for Seadrill paying the legal costs to the hedge fund.
SVP’s ownership of Dolphin stems from the bankruptcy of Fred. Olsen Energy in 2019. Here, too, there was conflict: Among other things, SVP opposed the sale of a drilling vessel that could have given $ 340 million to creditors. The bidder withdrew, and the ship was first sold last year, too 65 million.
Other rig investments
Interestingly, that ship was sold to Deep Value Driller – a rig company that received start-up capital in a share issue to buy that particular ship, and where one of the largest participants was Spetalen. Finansavisen has previously written that Spetalen bought shares for NOK 17 million, but dumped everything a few days later, with a loss.
Standard has also been in and out as a shareholder in the American rig giant Noble. This autumn, the company went against the terms of the proposed merger between Noble and Danish Maersk Drilling, which Standard believed was in Maersk shareholders’ favor. In the annual report to Standard, Noble is not mentioned among the investments.
Now the investor is trying again on the rig, where Standard in the last decade made good money from buying and reselling such drilling platforms. Standard was also called Standard Drilling before the company changed its name to ETC last year to reflect a broader field in “energy, transportation and commodities.”
At the end of March, the standard ETC had around USD 80 million (NOK 760 million) in cash and securities. Through its Ferncliff system, Spetalen owns around 30 percent of the shares in Standard ETC.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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