Tidewater completes $500m Brazil OSV takeover
Tidewater has completed its $500m takeover of Wilson Sons Ultratug Offshore, adding 22 platform supply vessels and dramatically scaling up its position in Brazil.
The Houston-based OSV giant closed the acquisition of Wilson Sons Ultratug Participações and affiliate Atlantic Offshore Services on August 31, six months after first announcing the all-cash deal.
The acquired fleet comprises 22 PSVs, 19 of them built in Brazil. The deal takes Tidewater’s Brazilian fleet from six vessels to 28 and, based on figures disclosed when the transaction was announced, lifts the group’s global fleet to 231 vessels, including 213 OSVs.
The original transaction valued Wilson Sons Ultratug at around $500m including assumed debt. Tidewater said at the end of June that the acquired companies carried approximately $231m of debt, down from about $261m when the takeover was first unveiled.
The Brazilian-built ships are an important part of the deal. Locally constructed vessels receive operating preference in Brazil and give Tidewater additional Brazilian Special Registry tonnage rights, potentially allowing it to bring more foreign-flagged vessels into the market.
Tidewater also picked up about $441m of contract backlog. When the acquisition was announced, 21 of the 22 vessels were active in Brazil, with the company noting that several were still working at rates materially below current market levels, leaving room for earnings upside as contracts roll over.
The takeover had originally been targeted for late in the second quarter but slipped into the third as Tidewater worked through credit documentation. Brazilian antitrust approval and the required change-of-control waivers from lenders had already been secured by the end of June.
The latest deal extends a consolidation run that has transformed Tidewater’s fleet over the past several years. Splash reported in 2022 on its $190m acquisition of Swire Pacific Offshore, which brought in 50 vessels and significantly expanded Tidewater’s West African and Asian footprint.
Tidewater followed that in 2023 by buying Solstad Offshore’s entire fleet of 37 PSVs for $577m, another major step in building what is now the industry’s largest OSV fleet.
Source: Splash 247