Icon said to receive offer to sell jack-up rig

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): Icon Offshore Bhd is said to have received an offer from a prospective foreign buyer to buy a jack-up rig that the company bought cheap two years ago.

Given the sharp rise in prices of jack-up rigs over the past two years, sources say it is likely that the offer price would be substantially higher than what Icon Offshore had paid for at purchase.

Furthermore, since there is a shortage of oil rigs in the region, the upstream players are willing to pay a premium to get hold of any that are available, the sources said.

To recap, Icon Offshore bought the rig, which was then a distressed asset, from ailing Perisai Petroleum Bhd at US$42.54mil (RM177 million) in 2020, when crude oil prices had dived to sub-zero.

It is worth noting that Perisai bought the rig back in 2014 for US$200 million, at the heights of the industry, which saw crude oil prices surge more than US$100 per barrel.

A source said that the potential buyer could be paying substantially higher price than what Icon Offshore paid for the asset two years ago.

Should the company sell the piece of asset at double the price it had paid, Icon Offshore would be getting roughly US$85 million (RM350 million) — an instant boost to its warchest.

As at June 30, Icon Offshore’s cash balance was at RM46.15 million against total borrowings of RM297.2 million, of which RM266.85 million were long term liabilities.

When contacted, Icon Offshore’s managing director Datuk Seri Hadian Hashim reiterated that the company is always on the lookout for potential mergers and acquisitions that can add value to its growth.

“The demand for jack-up rigs, especially in the Middle East, has been on the rise. The rates there are higher than other parts of Asia,” an analyst said.

The jack-up rig asset was a game-changer for Icon Offshore, which has been in the low margins business of chartering offshore marine vessels (OSVs).

The drilling business, including chartering of oil rigs, has boosted Icon Offshore’s profitability, as demand increases following the spike in crude oil prices that started in 2021.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, Icon Offshore’s drilling business contributed almost 45% of its profits and 37% of its revenue.

During the quarter under review, the company’s net profit halved to RM7.31 million from RM14.68 million a year earlier, due to lower gross profit contribution from its OSV segment.

It was reported that Icon Offshore is also looking to buy a maintenance, repair and operations business to diversify its income and boost its profitability.