HC2 Holding Mulls Global Marine Sale

The diversified holding company HC2 Holdings announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, for its  Global Marine Group (GMG)  subsidiary.

As part of this process, Global Marine Holdings, a leading provider of offshore engineering services to the telecommunications, renewables and oil & gas industries through its operating subsidiary Global Marine Systems Limited, has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and ABN AMRO Bank as joint advisors to explore strategic alternatives for the business.

"Since our acquisition four years ago, the management team at Global Marine has repositioned and strengthened itself by securing and maintaining leadership positions in various key growth markets, a testament to the strength of this business and the quality and focus of the team," said Philip Falcone, HC2's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President.

"They've renewed the fleet of marine assets through strategic acquisitions and re-organized the business to pursue attractive growth opportunities, all while substantially reducing debt that was assumed during the acquisition. We believe exploring strategic options now will clearly position the next buyer to strategically capitalize on the next phase of growth of the Global Marine business, while allowing current investors an opportunity to realize substantial value creation since the acquisition in 2014. Reducing HC2's debt cost of capital has been a top priority of ours, and we believe monetizing this asset will get us above and beyond that important goal," he said.

Falcone continued, "We've been delighted to be part of the Global Marine journey and having reviewed what we believe are incredible prospects for this business, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives to support the growth trajectory of the business set by Executive Chairman Dick Fagerstal and long-term Chief Executive Officer Ian Douglas."

Since the acquisition of Global Marine by HC2, Global Marine has realized significant success across its business.

"We very much welcome this decision from HC2 to explore strategic options to support the continued growth of the Global Marine Group platform," said Ian Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of Global Marine.

There can be no assurance that the exploration of any strategic alternative, including a potential sale, will result in a consummated transaction or other alternative.

GMG is a market leader in offshore engineering and is recognized as a independent strategic partner across multiple sectors.