Dubai-based port operator DP World is considering placing a bid for Singapore-based Miclyn Express Offshore, a leading provider of service vessels to the expanding offshore oil and gas industry across Southeast Asia and the Middle East, just months after buying Topaz Energy and Marine for $1.08 billion.
Acquiring a second offshore supply vessel owner-operator in Singapore-based Miclyn Express Offshore would see DP World significantly expand in the offshore support vessel market.
According to reports, DP World is one of the six potential bidders who are considering a bid for Singapore’s Miclyn Express Offshore. Australia’s MMA Offshore and PACC Offshore Services are among the other potential bidders. Another offshore vessel operator and two private equity firms are reportedly among the others who are considering a bid.
Singapore-based DBS Bank is Miclyn Express Offshore’s only partnered bank and is behind the financial restructuring of the embattled firm. The bank is asking up to $180 million of new equity which would include $100 million in cash injection. According to another report, Miclyn Express Offshore’s fleet is valued at around $180 million.
M3 Marine Group’s managing director, Mike Meade told the media that, “whoever takes this on would have to deal with the bank and bond debt that Miclyn Express Offshore carries, which wipes out any equity left in the company.”
As of June 30, 2018, Miclyn Express Offshore owed more than $310 million in bank loans.
DP World’s profits in the first half of 2019 increased by 27 percent to $753 million in the first half of 2019, helped by acquisitions and increased income from secondary businesses. So far this year, the company has invested in two new assets in Chile, along with the Fraser Surrey Docks in Canada and a consolidation of assets in Australia.