The Scorpio Group has taken control of Nordic American Offshore (NAO) in a deal worth US$5M.
The investment, which took place via a private placement with Scorpio subsidiary Scorpio Offshore Investments was announced by the North Sea-focused OSV owner this morning.
Scorpio founder Emanuele Lauro has been appointed chairman and chief executive of NAO, taking over from that company’s founder Herbjorn Hansson and bringing with him Scorpio’s Robert Bugbee as president, Cameron Mackey as chief operating officer and Filippo Lauro as vice president. Mr Hansson has resigned from the board of directors while Marianne Lie has resigned from the position of executive vice-chair but will remain a director.
Mr Lauro said “Though near-term challenges of the offshore market exist, I believe NAO has all the necessary attributes to succeed in the longer-term: high caliber people, high caliber assets, and strong relationships with key stakeholders, first among them its lenders and its shareholders.
“My focus in the coming weeks will be to ensure that this great enterprise can appropriately position itself for the improving fundamentals to come.”
NAO’s deal with Scorpio comes after a potential merger with Canada-based OSV owner Horizon Maritime, agreed at the beginning of October, was shelved on Tuesday 27 November.
Bermuda-based NAO owns and operates a fleet of 10 OSVs designed to operate in harsh environments. The company was founded in 2013 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.
Also active in the tanker and bulker markets, Monaco-based Scorpio entered the OSV sector in 2015 with the launch of Scorpio Offshore.
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