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Boskalis will not be drawn on Bibby Offshore rumours

Boskalis is remaining tight lipped over reports it is eyeing buying into Bibby Offshore.

Writing on his own blog, Jeremy Punnett, the founder of offshore consultancy Stamford Maritime, reported: “I have been told by multiple credible people now that Boskalis are negotiating directly with the Bibby Offshore bondholders to purchase certain assets of the company that would in effect be the refinancing of the company.”

Punnett said the deal being negotiated valued Bibby Offshore at around £52m.

“For that they would get the [dive support vessels] Sapphire, Polaris, and all intellectual property etc and simply collapse the North Sea business into their current operations. The rest will be left for the creditors who will make a minimal recovery,” Punnett wrote.

However, Boskalis officials refuse to be drawn on the speculation with a spokesperson telling Splash from the company’s Dutch headquarters: “As a matter of company policy, we never comment on rumours.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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