Norwegian engineering company Aker Solutions, US-based oilfield services provider SLB (formerly Schlumberger), and offshore projects developer Subsea7 have secured regulatory clearance from antitrust authorities in Brazil for their previously announced subsea joint venture (JV).
The JV, which will be made up of the subsea businesses of the three firms, is expected to close as early as Q4 2023 after satisfying the remaining conditions.
It has now obtained all the mandated regulatory approvals/clearances to close the transactions. These include the previously secured clearances in Angola, Australia, Mozambique, the UK, Norway, and the US.
Besides, all the issued approvals/clearances obtained are unconditional, said Aker Solutions, which will have a 20% stake in the JV. SLB will hold a 70% stake, while Subsea 7 will own the remaining 10% stake.
The joint venture deal was announced in August 2022.
Its goal is to bring about a significant improvement in subsea production economics by assisting clients in tapping into reserves, decreasing the time it takes to achieve initial oil production. The JV also aims to reduce development expenses, while actively fulfilling the decarbonisation goals of clients.
Aker Solutions stated: “The three companies will bring together deep reservoir domain and engineering design expertise, extensive field-proven subsea production and processing technology portfolios, world-class manufacturing scale and capabilities, and a comprehensive suite of life-of-field solutions to customers around the world.”
Under the structure and terms of the transaction, Aker Solutions will get a consideration of $700m for the sale of a 20% ownership in the JV.
Subsea Integration Alliance, which is a nonincorporated partnership between SLB and Subsea 7, will be merged into the new JV with a 10-year extended renewal period from the closing of the transaction.
The subsea JV of the three firms will have nearly 9,000 employees around the world.
