Subsea 7 SA

Saipem has secured unconditional antitrust approval from Brazil's CADE for its proposed merger with Subsea7, while separately agreeing to sell its Saudi Arabian shallow-water drilling business to ADES Saudi Limited Company for $285 million. The merger, which will create a combined entity called Saipem7, faced objections from major oil companies over market concentration but was cleared without restrictions, though the decision may still be appealed. The asset sale includes a fleet of five jack-up rigs and is part of Saipem's strategy to focus on deepwater and harsh-environment drilling, with closing expected in the third quarter of 2026. A bareboat charter arrangement will allow Saipem to continue its Mexico operations using the Perro Negro 10 rig.

Saipem has started offshore operations for the GranMorgu project in Suriname, with the Normand Navigator construction vessel moored at Jules Sedney Harbour in Paramaribo. This marks the first phase of activity at Suriname's inaugural large-scale offshore oil development, located in Block 58 about 150 kilometers offshore. The project is managed by TotalEnergies with a 40% stake, alongside APA at 40% and Staatsolie at 20%, and production is scheduled to begin in 2028. Saipem's contract covers engineering, procurement, supply, construction, and installation of the subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines system, plus pre-commissioning and support during commissioning and start-up at water depths from 100 to 1,100 meters. The company has set up a logistics hub of 30,000 to 40,000 square meters at Jules Sedney Harbour and is using the DORDT marine support base in Paramaribo for heavy subsea structures. Separately, Brazil's antitrust authority CADE has approved without restrictions the proposed merger between Saipem and Subsea7, though the decision can be appealed and major oil companies including ExxonMobil, Petrobras, and TotalEnergies have opposed the merger. Additionally, Saipem secured a new contract in Angola from Azule Energy Exploration and Azule Energy Angola, subsidiaries of an Eni and bp joint venture, valued at 1 billion dollars for transportation and installation services for the Greater PAJ ultra-deepwater project.

Third Avenue Value Fund disclosed in its first-quarter 2026 investor letter that Valaris Limited became the subject of a takeover offer from larger industry peer Transocean. The fund noted that the premium price offered to Valaris shareholders reflects a building cyclical recovery in demand for offshore energy services, Valaris' hard-to-replicate fleet of high-quality floating drilling rigs, and its well-capitalized balance sheet, which would allow indebted Transocean to reduce its own financial leverage through an all-stock merger. Valaris was among the largest contributors to fund performance during the quarter, with most of the gains occurring before the onset of military action in Iran on February 28. The fund's other offshore energy services holdings, Tidewater and Subsea 7, also performed strongly, with Subsea 7 undergoing an industry-consolidating acquisition announced in July 2025.