Sete Brasil Accepts Proposal and Construction of Brasfels and Jurong Drilling Rigs Will Be Resumed

Proposal Was Under Review by Sete Brasil Creditors, Who Approved the Sale of The Rigs to British Magni Partners

After Intense Review Period, Sete Brasil’s creditors approved Magni Partners’ proposal to acquire the four rigs that are currently under construction at the Brasfels shipyard in Angra dos Reis (RJ) and Jurong in Aracruz (ES).
It is worth noting that the British company’s proposal was 54% lower than Sete Brasil’s valuation, which required a longer review period by the creditors, as the proposal needed their approval at a meeting due to the company’s judicial recovery.

Sete Brasil set a minimum value of US$ 554 million for the four rigs, with the semi-submersibles Urca and Frade located at Brasfels and the drilling ships Arpoador and Guarapari at the Jurong shipyard.

The proposal from British Magni Partners was US$ 250 million for the four units and won over its only competitor in the bidding process, the Brasfels shipyard itself, which only proposed for the two rigs under its construction, US$ 35 million for Urca and US$ 15 million for Frade. During negotiations, creditors managed to get Magni Partners to raise the proposal to US$ 296 million in exchange for better conditions with the shipbuilding yards.

It is rumored that Magni will finish the rigs and then sell them, relying on the 10-year charter agreement with Petrobras at a daily rate of US$ 299 thousand (each). Etesco was chosen as the operator to run the rigs.
The sale of the units represents a small relief for Sete Brasil’s finances, as the company’s debts amount to around R$ 18 billion.

The Downfall

The sale of the platforms is part of the company’s judicial recovery process, and the creditors of Sete Brasil participating in the process total 22, including the Keppel Fels shipyards (Brasfels) and Jurong, that is, 12 shareholders (BTG Pactual, Luce, EIG Global Energy Partners, Lakeshore, Previ, Petros, Funcef, Valia, and FI-FGTS, Santander, Bradesco, and Petrobras), five banks, and five more shipyards.

Sete Brasil was created in 2010 to explore the pre-salt oil discovered years earlier. Given the high demand for drilling, the company contracted with national shipyards for 29 rigs, with 28 to meet contracts with Petrobras, with estimated investments of US$ 26.4 billion.
Starting in 2015, with the fall in oil prices and the consequences of the Lava Jato operation investigations, contracts were halted, financing was interrupted, and construction was suspended at the shipyards, causing immense economic and social impact.

Read Also! Oil Sector Has Another Important Deal, Subsea 7 Acquires 4Subsea!