Ezra to sell half of subsea arm to Japan's Chiyoda

Singapore

OFFSHORE services firm Ezra Holdings agreed on Thursday to sell off half of its substantial subsea business to Japanese oil and gas giant Chiyoda in a deal that it hopes will catapult it onto a bigger stage and more than make up for a short-term hit to earnings per share (EPS).

Chiyoda will pay US$180 million in cash for a 50 per cent stake in Ezra's subsea services arm, EMAS AMC, which values the unit at US$360 million, Ezra noted in a Singapore Exchange filing. The implied aggregate transaction value is about US$1.25 billion, said Ezra. The total deal value includes US$530 million of third-party net debt that EMAS AMC holds and another US$360 million in long-term funding from Ezra.