An Aberdeen company set up by global drilling giant Transocean to own deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico has unveiled the terms of a £205million flotation.
Financial heavyweights Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Citi, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo Securities are believed to be joint bookrunners for the listing of Transocean Partners on the New York stock exchange next week.
A total of 17.5million shares will be on offer, reportedly at between £11.14 and £12.3 each – meaning a mid-point market value for the business of more than £820million.
The underwriters are expected to be granted a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.625million shares.
Transocean Partners is a tax-free partnership formed earlier this year to own, operate and acquire modern, technologically advanced offshore drilling rigs in the US gulf.
It already has majority stakes in companies owning and operating three rigs under long-term deals with Chevron and BP, with an average of about 4.2 years remaining on the contracts.
The company will get first rights over the next five years to acquire stakes in four drillships under construction.
Transocean Partners Holdings is putting up to 29.2% of Transocean Partners up for sale in the initial public offering.
Switzerland-based Transocean will continue to own a 49% stake, with Transocean Partners itself holding the remaining stock.
Offshore rig contractors have been studying tax-free partnerships for some long-term contract drillships since Norway’s Seadrill adopted such a structure in 2012.
Operators are also getting in on the act – oil major Shell announced last month that it would sell shares in US pieline business during the second half of 2014.
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