Tuesday, January 17, 2017

News agency: Can sell Aker Solutions – E24

News agency refers to sources with knowledge of the matter, which says that Aker is in discussions with Goldman Sachs to act as advisor in a potential sale.

oil service company Aker Solutions has risen 70 per cent in value over the past twelve months and is now worth 11.4 billion. It has long been speculated that the company is for sale.

– Aker Solutions has for several years been mentioned as an interesting candidate for acquisition or merger in the oil services. This Bloomberg article refers to the sources which claim that such a process is started, but is still in an early phase, ” says Pareto Securities-analyst Synnøve Gjønnes to E24.

The largest shareholders in Aker Solutions is Aker Kværner Holding, which is owned by the state and the holding company Aker in the community. Aker ASA also has a stake beyond this. Other major owners are the national insurance fund and the Process, according to Aker Solutions’ own web sites.

According to Bloomberg tries Aker to find out if there is interest in the market, and the company has not taken any final decision to sell. There can be several candidates in the market, think Gjønnes.

– A candidate who has previously been designated have been GE Oil and Gas, ” she says.

– the Probability of a merger was regarded as something lower after it announced the merger with Baker Hughes last year, but we believe that this does not preclude a potential future merger. There will also be other possible candidates who may be interested, ” she adds.

Rumors and speculation

Aker will not confirm that Aker Solutions is for sale.

There is an article which stands for Bloombergs risk, ” says the Company spokesperson Atle Kigen to E24.

Aker president and ceo Øyvind Eriksen has repeatedly said that Aker is open for alliances, if this is in the best interest of the companies involved and the shareholders.

– We neither want or want to comment on the rumors and speculations about the possible structural adaptations and transactions, ” says Atle Kigen.

Aker as investment company the largest shareholder in seven stock-exchange listed companies, and is in contact with several brokerage firms and investment banks. We speak with many, but will not speak out about what we are discussing, ” he says.

– long-Term owners

If Aker to sell Aker Solutions, one must probably agree with the state about how this will be carried out.

There is an agreement about the ownership of Aker Solutions between the state and Aker ASA through the company Aker Kværner Holding. “Lock-up”agreement expires in June, but it is difficult to speculate what will happen then,” says Synnøve Gjønnes.

Both the state and Aker is considered to be long-term owners, but Aker even says that they are open if it turns up an interesting offer, ” she says.

the Ministry of industry says to E24 that it is the Aker Solutions board of directors and management who have responsibility for the business decisions.

For questions about the company’s strategy, we will show to the management in the company, ” says head of communications Trond Viken in the Ministry of industry to E24.

– in General, the state will make an assessment of any inquiries from the companies where the state owns shares or any other on any transactions with the on, ” says Viken.

Government role

the shareholders ‘agreement between the state and the Aker about the ownership of among others Aker Solutions regulates a variety of conditions and is available to the public,” says Viken.

– the Articles of association of Aker Kværner Holding includes among other things, how many shares the company will own in the three underlying companies, including Aker Solutions. If this is to be changed required the approval of both Aker and the ministry, cf shareholders ‘ agreement, he says.

We demonstrate otherwise to the agreement, where it is stated that the stand still clauses in this that relates to the ownership of Aker Kvaerner Holding expires in June 2017, while the agreement otherwise remains, ” says Viken.

the Parliament has not given the government the authority to sell the state’s shares in Aker Kvaerner Holding.

Many mergers

In 2014, Aker Solutions split in two, and Akastor was listed separately on the Oslo stock Exchange.

There have been a number of mergers and acquisitions in the oljeservicebransjen the last few years, including beating the Schlumberger and Cameron together in 2015, Halliburton and Baker Hughes were in 2014, in discussions about merging, but did not succeed. Technip and FMC joined in the last year, and so did the GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes, according to Pareto.

jpmorgan chase has a kjøpsanbefaling on the Aker Solutions share, with a price target of 45 million. The stock ended the day at 41,95 money by closing Tuesday.

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