Solstad Offshore seals financial restructuring with will see fleet reduced by 37 vessels

Solstad Offshore, the Norwegian offshore vessel owning giant formed by the merger of Solstad Offshore, Deep Sea Supply and Farstad, has finalised an agreement with key stakeholders for the financial restructuring to the group.

A restructuring implementation agreement has been signed which includes a debt to equity conversion of approximately NOK10.9bn ($1.07bn), a new four-year fleet loan, financing of additional liquidity, and the streamline of the company’s corporate structure.

Upon completion of the restructuring, the converted debt will represent 64%-75% of the company’s shares while existing shares will represent just 0.4%.

As originally indicated in March when the first details of the restructuring was announced, Solstad will sell or scrap 37 vessels to give it a core fleet of around 90 vessels.

Lars Peder Solstad, CEO of Solstad Offshore, commented: “We are very pleased to announce this restructuring agreement today. It has been a long process leading up to this important milestone, and we are grateful to the stakeholders for their continued support and trust in our company. This agreement will be important for our clients, employees, financial creditors and shareholders, as it reduces uncertainty and will allow us to focus even more on our core activities which are delivering high quality services to our clients. Our industry is facing challenging times in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the reduced oil price, but a restructured Solstad Offshore ASA will be in a much better position to handle these challenges.”