ADES acquires Shelf Drilling

ADES says after Shelf Drilling acquisition total backlog reached SAR 34 bln

ADES Holding Co. completed the acquisition of Shelf Drilling, Ltd. through a cash merger.

In a statement to Tadawul, the company said there is no change to the cost associated for the cash consideration of NOK 18.5 per share.

This acquisition solidifies ADES’s market position across its countries of operation, combining extensive reach with a premium fleet mix.

The enlarged platform is supported by a combined backlog in excess of SAR 34 billion, including ADES’s SAR 28.28 billion backlog as of Sept. 30, 2025 and Shelf Drilling’s SAR 5.74 billion backlog as of June 30, 2025.

This provides exceptional multi-year revenue visibility, along with strong resilience against market volatility and significant capacity to capture large-scale growth opportunities, the statement added.

The acquisition marks a pivotal step in ADES’s transformation, firmly establishing it as the global leader in offshore drilling. The company boasts a combined fleet of 83 offshore units (46 premium units) and 40 onshore rigs, now operating across 19 countries — up from 13 previously.

ADES’s operations span its home market in Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and key growth regions such as Southeast Asia and West Africa.

The company indicated that global marketed jack-up utilization is currently hovering above 90% prior to the redeployment of several suspended rigs from Saudi Arabia, including the resumption notices received for ADES's Admarine 510 and Shelf’s Harvey H. Ward drilling units.

With most of ADES’s existing contracts secured at pre-upturn rates, the combined platform is well positioned to benefit from improving market conditions, allowing natural margin expansion as contracts renew at higher rates.

In line with its strategy, ADES will seek to optimize the combined group’s capital structure, leveraging the strength of its enlarged balance sheet and robust cash-flow generation. As originally planned, ADES will refinance and settle Shelf Drilling’s outstanding USD notes (2029) and Nordic bonds (2028) before year-end, ensuring a more efficient capital structure and unlocking long-term financing benefits, the company further stated.

According to Argaam’s data, in August, ADES International Holding Ltd., a subsidiary of ADES, signed an agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Shelf Drilling through a cash merger governed by the laws of the Cayman Islands, under which Shelf Drilling will remain a surviving entity. The transaction was valued at approximately SAR 1.42 billion ($379 million).

In October, Shelf Drilling shareholders approved a revised cash consideration with ADES at NOK 18.50 per share (SAR 7.03), up 32% from NOK 14 per share (SAR 5.12).