The Chouest Group, Cut Off, La., on Friday announced it has completed its acquisition of the Alliance unit from Helix Energy Solutions Group, Houston, folding the operation into Champagne Energy Solutions (CES) as the Louisiana-based conglomerate continues building out its offshore decommissioning and plug and abandonment (P&A) business. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Alliance, Helix's shallow-water abandonment business, serves upstream and midstream operators in the Gulf of Mexico — renamed the Gulf of America under the Trump administration. Services include decommissioning and reclamation, project management, engineered solutions, intervention, maintenance and repair, heavy lift, and commercial diving. The business operates a diversified fleet comprising liftboats, offshore supply vessels, dive support vessels, a heavy lift derrick barge, a crewboat, P&A systems, and coiled tubing systems.
Alliance will be integrated into CES, which the Chouest Group acquired in March in what it described at the time as the first in a planned series of strategic moves to establish a fully integrated decommissioning presence. The company had signaled then that additional acquisitions were expected in the near term.
The Alliance deal represents the next step in that strategy. The combined platform will offer P&A, subsea intervention, marine logistics, and infrastructure removal services across the offshore energy sector.
"Alliance is a strong strategic fit and an important step in building a scalable, integrated platform in the decommissioning and P&A market," Dino Chouest, executive vice president of the Chouest Group, said in a statement.
Robbie Champagne, CEO of CES, added, "We are excited to welcome the Alliance team to CES. This combination creates immediate synergies and enhances our ability to deliver safe, efficient, and high-quality solutions to our clients."
The acquisition comes as Helix Energy Solutions Group is in the midst of its own major corporate transformation. In late April, Helix and Hornbeck Offshore Services, Covington, La., announced a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction, with Hornbeck shareholders set to own approximately 55% of the combined company. That deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2026, would create an integrated offshore services company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HOS.
The Chouest Group has said it sees the U.S. Gulf decommissioning market as a substantial and growing opportunity, with thousands of aging platforms and subsea structures across the region requiring retirement, a process that analysts have estimated will drive multi-billion-dollar global spending over the next decade.
CES, formerly known as Champagne Energy & Environmental Services, operates a fleet of dive support vessels and a pipelay barge, providing diving, pipeline installation and removal, and environmental services in the Gulf. It will continue to operate under its existing leadership.
The Chouest Group is a privately held, family-owned company based in Cut Off, La., with more than 22,000 employees worldwide and operations spanning energy services, shipbuilding, subsea services, and advanced technology manufacturing.
Johnson Rice & Co., New Orleans, acted as financial advisor to the Chouest Group on the Alliance transaction.
