Houston-based offshore drilling services firm McDermott International cleared another hurdle on the way towards a potential $6 billion merger with Chicago Bridge & Iron Co (CB&I) when the deal received antitrust clearance from Russia.
That means the two companies have received all the required competition authority clearances regarding their proposed amalgamation.
In January they had been given a boost when the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) granted early termination of a waiting period that is normally required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
CB&I is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business with head offices in Woodlands, Texas and corporate HQ in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The merger still needs approval by the shareholders of each company, completion of financing and some other conditions, but is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
It involves an all-stock transaction which the two agreed to in December 2017.
If it goes ahead it would leave McDermott with about 53% of the new entity and CB&I with about 47%.
The new business will be a fully vertically integrated onshore-offshore company that will bring together McDermott’s Middle East and Asian presence along with CB&I’s US operations.
