Tidewater acquires Swire Pacific Offshore in US$190M deal

Mr Kneen pointed out all 50 of the acquired SPO OSVs were globally active and working, “providing Tidewater with significant additional earnings and free cash flow generation potential,” as day rates and utilisation continue to improve. SPO’s active fleet in southeast Asia and the Middle East raises Tidewater’s footprint across those regions.

Tidewater said it has identified about US$45M of annual run-rate cost synergies that will be targeted post-consummation of the transaction.

Under the terms of the transaction, Tidewater will issue 8,100,000 Jones Act warrants, each of which will be initially exercisable for one share of Tidewater common stock at US$0.001 per share, plus a cash payment of US$42M.

Investors reacted positively to the announcement of the acquisition. Shares of TDW on 9 March hit a 52-week high, trading at US$18.69. Big Board-listed Tidewater also reported revenues for Q4 2021 of US$105M and US$371M for the 12 months ending 31 December. This was compared with US$92M for Q4 2020 and US$397M for 12 months ending 31 December 2020.

“In Q4 2021, revenue increased 14% over the third quarter, driven by six additional vessels working during the quarter as well as increases in the global average day rate and global utilisation,” said Mr Kneen. “The global average day rate moved up approximately US$300 per day, driven by improvements in the Americas and West Africa regions, and the slight global utilisation increase was driven by improvements in the Middle East region.”

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