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Mitsui to Make Full-scale Entry into Subsea Support Vessel Business through Acquisition of Shares in AKOFS Offshore

Jun. 19, 2018


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Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga), together with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. ("MOL", Head Office: Tokyo), has concluded a share purchase agreement with Akastor ASA ("Akastor", Head Office: Oslo, Norway) to acquire a stake in AKOFS Offshore AS ("AKOFS", Head Office: Oslo, Norway), which is affiliated with Aker Group, a major Norway-based company in the offshore oil and gas industry. As a result, Mitsui and MOL will hold 25% stakes in AKOFS, respectively. Mitsui's total investment will amount to approximately 8 billion yen, in addition to the contribution in-kind of the vessel owning and leasing company that has been jointly operated by Mitsui, MOL, and AKOFS since November 2016.

AKOFS operates three subsea support vessels, which engage in installation of the subsea facilities that are essential for subsea oil and gas production, as well as subsea well intervention and completion. All of those vessels are capable of operating in waters up to a depth of over 2,000 meters, of which two vessels (including Skandi Santos) have been chartered by Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company, and one vessel is slated to be chartered by Equinor Energy AS (former Statoil Petroleum AS).

With the growing global need for a reduction in oil and gas development and production costs, Mitsui will contribute to reducing such costs by realizing highly efficient operations with the subsea support vessels. In this regard, Mitsui has agreed with Aker Group and MOL to pursue opportunities for further expanded collaboration from a long-term perspective.

Mitsui has positioned the machinery and infrastructure area as one of its core business areas, aiming to establish a robust earnings platform. In the offshore energy field, in addition to the existing floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) business and drillship business, Mitsui has designated the subsea-related business as a new priority area. Envisioning its future contribution to resource development in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Mitsui will further promote offshore-related business.

1. Profile of AKOFS

Head office Oslo, Norway
Shareholders Mitsui: 25%
MOL: 25%
Akastor: 50%
(wholly owned by Akastor prior to acquisition of shares by Mitsui and MOL)
Business activities Provision of subsea support vessel-based subsea oil and gas well construction and intervention (maintenance, repair, etc.) services
Website

http://www.akofsoffshore.com/

2. Profile of Subsea Vessels under AKOFS operation

Please scroll horizontally to look at table below.

Vessel Name Skandi Santos Aker Wayfarer AKOFS Seafarer
Year Built December 2009 October 2010 January 2010
Area of Operation Offshore Brazil Offshore Brazil Offshore Norway (Planned)
Main Scope of Operation Installation and maintenance of subsea facilities Installation and maintenance of subsea facilities Subsea well intervention and completion
Picture

Skandi Santos

Aker Wayfarer

AKOFS Seafarer

Information

For inquiries on this matter, please contact

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Division
Telephone: +81-80-5912-0321
Facsimile: +81-3-3285-9819
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