Keppel associate drops bid to form offshore housing giant

KEPPEL Corp's associate company Floatel International and Oslo-listed Prosafe have dropped their attempt to merge. A merger would have created the world's largest offshore accommodation company.

In a regulatory update on Thursday, Keppel said Floatel and Prosafe were of the view that any near-term completion of a value-enhancing merger was unlikely.

Keppel said the discontinuation of the proposed deal is not expected to have a material impact on its net tangible assets or earnings per share for the current financial year.

Norway competition authorities had in October 2019 blocked the proposed merger. At the time, Keppel said that Floatel and Prosafe were assessing whether to appeal against the decision.

FELS Offshore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel's Offshore & Marine unit, owns a 49.92 per cent stake in Floatel.

Keppel shares were trading flat at S$6.73 on Friday as at 9.59am.

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