Seacor Concludes Agreement To Purchase Graham's Marine Assets
Seacor Holdings, Inc. announced the conclusion of a definitive agreement with John E. Graham & Sons and affiliated companies of Bayou La Batre, Ala., to purchase all of the marine assets and certain real estate owned by the sellers. The assets will be purchased by several Seacor subsidiaries.
The purchase price will be $72 million, subject to certain adjustments at the time of closing. The definitive agreement follows the terms of a letter of intent signed last May but excludes from the transaction a shipyard and certain real estate which will be retained by the sellers. The Graham fleet includes seven offshore supply vessels, 37 crewboats, five mini-supply vessels, and 79 utility boats.
The transaction was expected to close by September 30. Seacor will finance the acquisition with its cash on hand and borrowings under an $85 million credit line established with Den norske Bank AS, New York branch.
Seacor Chairman Charles Fabrikant said, "the Graham assets will broaden Seacor's ability to serve its offshore energy customers, and benefit the company's environmental subsidiary, National Response Corporation (NRC), which specializes in marine emergency response and oil spill cleanup." He continued, "NRC has expanded its customer base during the last year by entering into longterm contracts with PDV Marina, a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuela-based oil producer, and its U.S. subsidiary CITGO, a domestic based refiner and distributor, and Sun Oil. The Graham acquisition provides flexibility for NRC to customize programs for clients by re-deploying some of Graham's assets. We are considering Puerto Rico, Lake Charles, Corpus Christi, the Caribbean and the West Coast as areas for expansion." NRC PresidentMark Miller said that the enhanced capability within the Seacor family would facilitate the prompt action and flexibility needed for effective response to oil spills. He said major spills have required as many as 80 support vessels like those in the Graham fleet. "We believe that NRC is the only company in the U.S. with environmental experience that can commandeer the broad array of diverse marine equipment necessary to respond to such events." He said that NRC's ability to access equipment through its sister company is an advantage in expediting response. NRC now has another 128 vessels in its marine response network. Seacor provides offshore marine transportation and environmental services to the energy and maritime industries. The company's two primary lines of business are: the operation of a diversified fleet of marine vessels primarily dedicated to supporting offshore oil and gas exploration and development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the North Sea and West Africa; and the provision of environmental contracting services domestically and internationally, specializing in the planning for and response to oil spills. Seacor's environmental services are provided primarily through NRC.
