Aker Can't Rule Out U.S. Yard, Driller Sale, Merger

Aker ASA, the company controlled by billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke, can’t rule out selling or finding merger partners for Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA and Aker Drilling ASA, its chief executive officer said. “Aker will always be open to purchases, divestments or mergers of its investments,” Oeyvind Eriksen said in an interview in Oslo today after a presentation to investors. Aker “isn’t ruling out” a possible sale or merger of Aker Philadelphia, of which it owns 50.3 percent, to develop the yard, Eriksen said. The company isn’t in any talks regarding such a transaction, he said.
Eriksen also said there’s “significant interest” in Aker Drilling’s two deepwater oilrigs.
“We have until now dismissed all dialogues of a sale, merger or other transaction with Aker Drilling,” he said. “But after the refinancing and yard stays are completed, and we have a robust track record for the rigs, Aker will also be open to discussing strategic alternatives.”
The Aker Spitsbergen rig is scheduled for a two-month yard stay starting in mid-March for an upgrade, he said.
Aker, whose roots date back to 1841, is focusing on areas where it has expertise. About 64 percent of its assets were directly or indirectly related to the oil industry at the end of 2009. The company owns 40 percent of Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA, the result of a merger with Det Norske and Aker Exploration ASA in December, which marked a further push for Roekke into oil and gas exploration offshore Norway. Roekke controls about 68 percent of Aker and is chairman of the board.
“Det Norske is our entrance to the Norwegian continental shelf,” Eriksen said. “We will keep all our exploration and production interests in Det Norske. It’s not a question of buying into other companies.”
Aker said in its fourth-quarter earnings report on Feb. 24 that it expects demand for energy to continue to rise, boosting the need for the products, technologies and services. The company posted a loss of 1.5 billion kroner ($251 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 847 million a year earlier.