SeaBird Exploration Acquires Geowave Voyager

SeaBird Exploration announced it is in an exclusive process to acquire the seismic vessel Geowave Voyager and certain seismic equipment from Exploration Vessel Resources II AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of CGG S.A., for a cash consideration of $17 million.

SeaBird intends to carry out a private placement of new shares in the company raising gross proceeds of minimum NOK 80 million and maximum of NOK 120 million. 

The subscription price  in the Private Placement will be determined through an accelerated book-building process. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to finance the Transaction and for general corporate purposes.

The company is currently in an exclusive process with CGG to acquire the seismic vessel Geowave Voyager, fully rigged with source and recording equipment, including 40 km of Sercel Sentinel Solid streamer, for a cash consideration of $17 million. 

The vessel was built in 2009 for an original construction cost of approximately $120 million, excluding in-sea recording and source equipment, and has capacity to tow up to 10 streamers. 

Hans Petter Klohs, Chief Executive Officer in SeaBird, said, "After a series of strong contract wins, we have secured high utilization for most our existing fleet well into the fourth quarter. We have been proactively seeking to grow the fleet in tandem with an improving underlying market, and this transaction will provide us with a very suitable quality vessel we know well from previous engagements at a very attractive price further strengthening our position and service offering in the 2D, source and niche 3D markets."

The vessel is suited for 2D, source and niche 3D projects, and can be modified for use as a node laying vessel in the ocean bottom seismic market. It has remained warm throughout the downturn and will be utilized as a source vessel for CGG during Q3 2018.

SeaBird said the agreement with CGG to acquire the vessel and equipment is conditional on financing of the transaction, which shall be lifted by the company no later than July 16, 2018, as well as a technical inspection of the vessel, which is expected to take place between July 25-30, 2018.

As part of the agreement, the company will receive a preferred supplier status with CGG when using the vessel. Seabird also commits to not towing more than six streamers if using the vessel for acquiring 3D seismic. 

The transaction is expected to be effective by end July 2018, with transfer of ownership of the vessel and closing of the Transaction expected to be completed in October 2018. Seabird will pay 10 percent of the cash consideration upon completion of the technical inspection and the remaining 90 percent will be paid on closing.