Seatrium Ltd., Singapore, on Tuesday announced the divestment of its AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, for a total consideration of $65 million (approximately US$50.6 million). The sale is being carried out through its subsidiary, Seatrium AmFELS, Inc., under a binding agreement with Karpower Valley LLC, an affiliate of Karpowership, Istanbul, Turkey.
"The accretive divestment will allow Seatrium to enhance capital and operational efficiencies, while unlocking value from one of its surplus facilities," Seatrium said in a statement.
The company said it will complete all of AmFELS' ongoing projects by the end of 2025. The yard recently delivered the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel, Charybdis, for Dominion Energy Inc., Richmond, Va., and it is currently building the nation's largest hopper dredge, Frederick Paup, for Manson Construction Co., Seattle.
The deal remains subject to standard closing conditions, including lease transfer approval by the Port of Brownsville, Seatrium said.
The book value of the assets as of June 30 was approximately S$39 million (US $30.4 million). The sale will be settled in cash, with S$50 million (US$39 million) of the payment deferred by one year from closing.
“We have a strong and longstanding relationship with Karpowership, and are pleased to entrust the yard to a partner with whom we will continue to deepen our collaboration," said Chris Ong, CEO of Seatrium.
"Notwithstanding the divestment, the U.S. market remains important to us. We will continue to leverage our global footprint and integrated One Seatrium Delivery Model to deliver world-class solutions to our U.S.-based and global customers in the offshore and energy sectors,” Ong added.
Following the divestment, Seatrium plans to pivot its U.S. presence toward engineering innovation and technology, with continued operations at its technology centres and offices in Houston, and a service centre in Vicksburg, Miss., the company said.
