Regulatory Filings • Jun 5, 2019
Regulatory Filings
Open in ViewerOpens in native device viewer
This prospectus (the "Prospectus") has been prepared by Awilco Drilling Plc, a public limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales (the "Company" or "Awilco Drilling", and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), solely for use in connection with the listing on Oslo Børs of 5,550,000 new shares of the Company issued through a private placement on 11 March 2019 (the "Private Placement Shares") (the "Listing"). The Company's shares (the "Shares") are listed on Oslo Børs under the ticker code "AWDR".
Trading in the Private Placement Shares on Oslo Børs is expected to commence on or about 6 June 2019 under the trading symbol "AWDR".
THIS PROSPECTUS SERVES AS A LISTING PROSPECTUS ONLY AS REQUIRED BY NORWEGIAN LAW AND REGULATIONS. THIS PROSPECTUS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO BUY, SUBSCRIBE OR SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN, AND NO SECURITIES ARE BEING OFFERED OR SOLD PURSUANT TO IT.
Investing in the Shares involves a high degree of risk. See Section 2 "Risk factors".
Managers
ABG Sundal Collier ASA Fearnley Securities AS Clarksons Platou Securities AS
The date of this Prospectus is 5 June 2019
This Prospectus has been prepared solely for use in connection with the Listing of the Private Placement Shares on Oslo Børs. Please see Section 16 "Definitions and glossary" for definitions of terms used in this Prospectus.
The Prospectus has been prepared to comply with chapter 7 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act of June 29, 2007 No. 75 (the "Norwegian Securities Trading Act") and related secondary legislation, including the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 809/2004 implementing Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 regarding information contained in Prospectuses, as amended (the "Prospectus Directive"). The Prospectus has been prepared in English language only. The Prospectus has not been passported into any other country in the European Economic Area.
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (the "Norwegian FSA") has reviewed and approved this Prospectus in accordance with sections 7-7 and 7-8 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act on 5 June 2019. The Prospectus is valid for a period of 12 months from the date of approval by the Norwegian FSA. The Norwegian FSA has not controlled or approved the accuracy or completeness of the information given in this Prospectus. The approval given by the Norwegian FSA only relates to the information included in accordance with pre-defined disclosure requirements. The Norwegian FSA has not made any form of control or approval relating to corporate matters described or referred to in this Prospectus.
The Company has engaged ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Fearnley Securities AS and Clarksons Platou Securities AS as Managers of the Private Placement and the listing of the Private Placement Shares. The Managers are acting for the Company and no one else in relation to the listing of the Private Placement Shares, and they will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of the Managers or for providing advice in relation to the Listing. In the ordinary course of their businesses, the Managers and certain of their respective affiliates have engaged, and may continue to engage, in investment and commercial banking transactions with the Company and its subsidiaries.
Neither the Company nor the Managers, or any of their respective affiliates, representatives, advisers or selling agents, are making any representation on behalf of the Group in connection with this Prospectus or the listing of the Private Placement Shares. No person is authorised to give any information about or to make any representation concerning the Group or in connection with the listing of the Private Placement Shares other than as contained in this Prospectus. If any such information is given or made, it must not be relied upon as having been authorised by the Company or the Managers or by any of the affiliates, advisers or selling agents of any of the foregoing.
The distribution of this Prospectus may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons in possession of this Prospectus are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. The Prospectus serves as a listing Prospectus as required by applicable laws and regulations. The Prospectus does not constitute an offer to buy, subscribe or sell any of the securities described herein, and no securities are being offered or sold pursuant to it.
The Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.
This Prospectus is subject to Norwegian law. The courts of Norway, with Oslo as legal venue, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute which may arise out of or in connection with the Listing and this Prospectus.
| 1. | SUMMARY 4 |
|---|---|
| 2. | RISK FACTORS 16 |
| 3. | RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROSPECTUS27 |
| 4. | PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION 28 |
| 5. | INDUSTRY AND MARKET 31 |
| 6. | BUSINESS41 |
| 7. | CAPITALISATION AND INDEBTEDNESS 51 |
| 8. | SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION 53 |
| 9. | OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW 61 |
| 10. | BOARD OF DIRECTORS, MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYEES AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 67 |
| 11. | CORPORATE INFORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SHARE CAPITAL76 |
| 12. | SECURITIES TRADING IN NORWAY 85 |
| 13. | TAXATION 90 |
| 14. | THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT 98 |
| 15. | ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 100 |
| 16. | DEFINITIONS AND GLOSSARY 102 |
Summaries are made up of disclosure requirements known as "Elements". These Elements are numbered in Sections A– E (A.1 – E.7) below. This summary contains all the Elements required to be included in a summary for this type of securities and the issuer. Because some Elements are not required to be addressed, there may be gaps in the numbering sequence of the Elements. Even though an Element may be required to be inserted in the summary because of the type of securities and issuer, it is possible that no relevant information can be given regarding the Element. In this case a short description of the Element is included in the summary with the mention of "Not applicable".
| A.1 | Warning | This summary should be read as an introduction to the Prospectus and is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this Prospectus. |
|---|---|---|
| Where a claim relating to the information contained in the Prospectus is brought before a court, the plaintiff investor might, under the national legislation in its Member State, have to bear the costs of translating the Prospectus before the legal proceedings are initiated. |
||
| Civil liability attaches only to those persons who have tabled the summary including any translation thereof, but only if the summary is misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent when read together with the other parts of the Prospectus or it does not provide, when read together with the other parts of the Prospectus, key information in order to aid investors when considering whether to invest in such securities. |
||
| A.2 | Resale or final placement of securities by financial intermediaries |
Not applicable. This Prospectus will not be used in subsequent resales by financial intermediaries. |
| B.1 | Legal and commercial name |
The legal and commercial name of the Company is Awilco Drilling Plc. |
|---|---|---|
| B.2 | Domicile and legal form, legislation and country of incorporation |
The Company is a public limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, and having its domicile in England. |
| B.3 | Current operations, principal activities and markets |
The Company's principal business is to own offshore drilling rigs for use in offshore drilling operations, and to provide drilling services for oil and gas companies using these rigs. |
| The Company currently owns two semi-submersible drilling rigs; WilPhoenix built in 1982 and upgraded in |
| 2011, and WilHunter built in 1983 and upgraded in 1999 and 2011. Both rigs are typical "workhorse" rigs used for drilling of oil and gas wells on the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea, although they can also be used in other geographical locations. On 9 March 2018, the Company entered into a newbuilding contract for the building of a semi submersible drilling rig designed for harsh environment use. The drilling rig is expected to be delivered in March 2021. Furthermore, in connection with entering into the newbuilding contract, the Company negotiated options to build up to three additional drilling rigs of similar design, with each option being independent of each other. On 8 March 2019, the Company declared an option for the building of one new semi-submersible drilling rig designed for harsh environment use. The drilling rig is expected to be delivered in March 2022. Both drilling rigs will be equipped and certified for drilling on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including the Barents Sea. As of the date of this Prospectus, two additional options remain. |
||
|---|---|---|
| B.4a | Significant recent trends affecting the issuer and the industry in which it operates |
The Company's principal focus and expertise is to provide drilling services, particularly on the UK continental shelf. Operations in this market is characterised by relatively short contracts, although longer contracts may also be available from time to time. With short contracts, the Company's revenues are influenced by rates that can fluctuate on the basis of changing supply and demand for drilling services. The Company is also planning to enter operations in other parts of the North Sea, upon delivery of the ordered newbuild rigs as specified in the 2018 and 2019 private placements. These ordered rigs are compliant with operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Company has not experienced any specific changes or trends that are considered as significant for the Company or the market in which it operates since 31 December 2018, and as of the date of this Prospectus. |
| B.5 | The Group | The Company is the parent company of the Group. |
| B.6 | Persons having an interest in the issuer's capital or voting rights |
Shareholders of the Company are required to notify the Company, in accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rule 5 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Services Authority if, as a result of an acquisition or disposal of Shares, the percentage of voting rights he holds as a shareholder (or holds or is deemed to hold through his direct or indirect beneficial interest in the Shares) reaches, exceeds, or falls below 3% of the Company's nominal value of that share capital. |
| The Company is not aware of any persons or entities, except for those set out below, who, directly or |
| indirectly, have an interest of 3% or more of the Shares as of the date of this Prospectus. The following persons or entities have given notice of an interest of 3% or more of the Shares in the Company: Awilhelmsen Offshore AS: 37.08% UBS Securities LLC: 17.72% Akastor ASA: 5.58% Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.: 4.12% Citibank N.A: 3.44% |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| As of the date of this Prospectus, funds managed by QVT Financial LP own 4,665,895 Shares in the Company, amounting to a total of 8.55% of the Company's share capital. QVT Financial LP is an asset management company in which the Company's director Mr. Gold is the CEO and the founder. FVP Master Fund LP with affiliated and related parties own 10,817,537 Shares as of the date of this Prospectus, amounting to a total of 20.02% of the Company's share capital. |
|||
| The Company is not aware of any arrangements the operation of which may at a subsequent date result in a change of control of the Company. |
|||
| B.7 Selected historical key financial information |
The table below sets out selected data from the Group's consolidated income statement for the years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016 which has been extracted from the Audited Financial Statements, and for the three months period ended 31 March 2019 with comparable figures from 31 March 2018 which has been extracted from the Interim Financial Statements. |
| Three months ended |
Three months ended |
Year ended 31 December |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2019 | 31 March 2018 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| In USD Thousands | |||||
| Revenue | 9,062 | 34,103 | 56,522 | 131,731 | 72,472 |
| Cost of sales | (8,906) | (10,766) | (66,031) | (88,794) | (52,492) |
| Gross profit | 156 | 23,337 | (9,509) | 42,937 | 19,980 |
| General and administrative expenses | 3,133 | 2,782 | (8,766) | (8,818) | (8,908) |
| Operating profit | (2,977) | 20,555 | (18,275) | 34,119 | 11,072 |
| Finance income | 533 | 550 | 1,943 | 792 | 631 |
| Finance expense | - | (1,642) | (4,671) | (6,919) | (7,658) |
| Foreign exchange gain/(loss) | - | - | 5 | 941 | (1,437) |
| Loss on forward contracts | 142 | 358 | (172) | (123) | (1,042) |
| Profit before taxation | (2,302) | 19,821 | (21,170) | 28,810 | 1,566 |
| Tax (expense)/benefit | (50) | (706) | (1,694) | (643) | 745 |
| Profit for year attributable to equity | |||||
| shareholders | (2,352) | 19,115 | (22,864) | 28,167 | 2,311 |
| Weighted Average number of shares | 50,091,612 | 30,813,722 | 44,221,089 | 30,031,500 | 30,031,500 |
| Basic and diluted earnings per share | (0.05) | 0.62 | (0.52) | 0.94 | 0.08 |
| Interest coverage ratio | 0 | 13.07 | (4.86) | 5.16 | 1.20 |
| Three months |
Three months |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended | ended | Year ended 31 December | |||
| 31 March 2019 |
31 March 2018 |
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| In USD Thousands | |||||
| Assets | |||||
| Property, plant and equipment | 227,470 | 217,935 | 186,761 | 178,808 | 238,868 |
| Deferred tax | 410 | 1,483 | 461 | 1,372 | 3,058 |
| Total non-current assets | 227,880 | 219,418 | 187,222 | 180,180 | 241,926 |
| Current assets | |||||
| Inventory | 4,809 | 4,809 | 4,808 | 4,808 | 4,844 |
| Prepayments | 4,422 | 19,076 | 11,938 | 24,073 | 24,482 |
| Trade and other receivables | 6,317 | 73,837 | 340 | 3,551 | 22,078 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 42,900 | 92,472 | 63,865 | 119,286 | 70,070 |
| Total current assets | 58,448 | 190,194 | 80,951 | 151,718 | 121,474 |
| Total assets | 286,328 | 409,612 | 268,173 | 331,898 | 363,400 |
| Current liabilities | |||||
| Trade and other payables | 7,038 | 11,375 | 6,284 | 10,441 | 11,281 |
| Current tax payable | 66 | - | 66 | - | 23,923 |
| Borrowing | - | 10,000 | - | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Total current liabilities | 7,104 | 21,375 | 6,350 | 20,441 | 45,204 |
| Non-current liabilities | |||||
| Deferred tax liability | - | - | - | - | 1,129 |
| Borrowing | - | 80,000 | - | 80,000 | 90,000 |
| Other liabilities | - | - | 433 | 248 | |
| Total non-current liabilities | - | 80,000 | 433 | 80,248 | 91,129 |
| Total liabilities | 7,104 | 101,375 | 6,783 | 100,689 | 136,333 |
| Net assets | 279,224 | 308,237 | 261,390 | 231,209 | 227,067 |
| Equity | |||||
| Paid in capital | 218,905 | 194,060 | 198,719 | 130,141 | 130,141 |
| Retained earnings | 60,319 | 114,177 | 62,671 | 101,068 | 96,926 |
| Total Equity | 279,224 | 308,237 | 261,390 | 231,209 | 227,067 |
| 98% | 75% | ||||
| Equity / Assets ratio | 97% | 70% | 62% |
The table below sets out selected data from the Group's consolidated statements of cash flows for the years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016 which has been extracted from the Audited Financial Statements, and for the three months period ended 31 March 2019 with comparable figures from 31 March 2018 which has been extracted from the Interim Financial Statement.
| Three months | Three months | Year ended | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended | ended | 31 December | |||
| 31 March 2019 | 31 March 2018 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| In USD Thousands | |||||
| Operating activities | |||||
| Profit before tax | (2,302) | 19,821 | (21,170) | 28,810 | 1,566 |
| Non-cash adjustments to reconcile profit before | |||||
| tax to net cash flows: | |||||
| Depreciation | 2,651 | 3,402 | 13,425 | 15,686 | 15,579 |
| Impairment | - | - | 25,000 | 45,000 | |
| Net interest | (533) | 1,092 | 2,728 | 6,126 | 7,027 |
| Share based payment | (303) | 663 | (260) | 301 | 32 |
| Working capital adjustments: | |||||
| Decrease / (increase) in trade | |||||
| and other receivables | 2,758 | 7,249 | 8,092 | 101 | (9,917) |
| Decrease / (increase) in inventory | - | - | - | 36 | 171 |
| (Increase)/ decrease in prepayments | |||||
| and accrued revenue | (1,219) | (6,268) | 4,043 | 307 | (4,532) |
| (Decrease) / increase in trade and other | |||||
| payables | 624 | (1,552) | (3,712) | (714) | (12,302) |
| Interest paid | - | (67) | (4,671) | (7,097) | (7,798) |
| Interest received | 533 | 550 | 1,943 | 792 | 631 |
| Taxation paid | - | (3,169) | 2,494 | (5,481) | (6,013) |
| Net cash flow from operating activities | 2,209 | 21,721 | 27,912 | 83,867 | (15,556) |
| Investing activities | |||||
| Purchase of property, plant and equipment | (43,360) | (42,529) | (46,378) | (626) | (20,111) |
| Net cash flow used in investing activities | (43,360) | (42,529) | (46,378) | (626) | (20,111) |
| Financing activities | |||||
| Proceeds from issue of share capital | 20,595 | - | 69,595 | - | - |
| Equity issue costs | (409) | - | (1,017) | - | - |
| Payment of dividends | 0 | (6,006) | (15,533) | (24,025) | (19,520) |
| Repayment of loan and bonds | 0 | 0 | (90,000) | (10,000) | (10,000) |
| Net cash flow used in financing activities | 20,186 | (6,006) | (36,955) | (34,025) | (29,520) |
| Net increase in cash or cash equivalents | (20,956) | (26,814) | (55,421) | 49,216 | (65,187) |
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of | |||||
| year | 63,865 | 119,286 | 119,286 | 70,070 | 135,257 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | 42,900 | 92,472 | 63,865 | 119,286 | 70,070 |
| The table below sets out selected data from the Group's |
|---|
| consolidated statement of changes in equity for the |
| years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016, and |
| for the three month period ended 31 March 2019. |
| Share | Share | Retained | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TUSD | capital | premium | earnings | Total equity |
| At 1 January 2016 | 304 | 129,837 | 114,135 | 244,276 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | - | - | 2,311 | 2,311 |
| Dividend paid | - | - | (19,520) | (19,520) |
| Balance at 31 December 2016 | 304 | 129,837 | 96,926 | 227,067 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | 28,167 | 28,167 | ||
| Dividend paid | (24,025) | (24,025) | ||
| Balance at 31 December 2017 | 304 | 129,837 | 101,068 | 231,209 |
| Equity issue as at 27 March 2018 | 161 | 64,776 | - | 64,937 |
| Equity issue costs as at 27 March 2018 | - | (1,017) | - | (1,017) |
| Equity issue as at 22 June 2018 | 12 | 4,646 | - | 4,658 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | - | - | (22,864) | (22,864) |
| Dividend paid | - | - | (15,533) | (15,533) |
| Balance at 31 December 2018 | 477 | 198,242 | 62,671 | 261,390 |
| Equity issue 14 March 2019 | 48 | 20,547 | - | 20,595 |
| Equity issue costs 14 March 2019 | - | (409) | - | (409) |
| Total comprehensive profit as at 31 March 2019 | - | (2,352) | (2,352) | |
| Dividend paid | - | - | - | - |
| Balance as at 31 March 2019 | 525 | 218,380 | 60,319 | 279,224 |
| B.8 | Selected key pro forma financial information |
Not applicable. The Prospectus does not contain pro forma financial information. |
|---|---|---|
| B.9 | Profit forecast or estimate |
Not applicable. The Company has not made any profit forecasts or estimates. |
| B.10 | Qualifications in the audit report on the historical financial information |
Not applicable. |
| B.11 | Working capital | As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company is of the opinion that the Group's working capital is sufficient for its present requirements and for at least the next twelve months from the date of this Prospectus. |
| C.1 | Type and class of securities admitted to trading and identification number |
The Private Placement Shares were issued on 14 March 2019 and have been registered with the VPS under a blocked VPS account until the publication of this Prospectus. As of 6 June 2019, the blocking of the VPS account will be lifted and the Private Placement Shares will be freely transferable. The Private Placement Shares are registered in book-entry form with the VPS under the Company's ISIN number GB00B5LJSC86. The Company has one class of shares in issue and all |
|---|---|---|
| Shares provide equal rights in the Company. Each of the Shares carries one vote. The Shares have been created under the laws of England and Wales. |
||
| C.2 | Currency of issue | The Private Placement Shares are issued in GBP. |
| C.3 | Number of shares in issue and par value |
The Company's issued share capital is GBP 354,779.75 divided into 54,581,500 Shares each with a nominal value of GBP 0.0065. All Shares are fully paid and issued in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. |
|---|---|---|
| C.4 | Rights attached to the securities |
All Shares in the Company, including the Private Placement Shares, provides equal rights in the Company. |
| C.5 | Restrictions on free transferability |
The Private Placement Shares are freely transferable. |
| C.6 | Admission to trading |
The Private Placement Shares are expected to be listed on Oslo Børs on 6 June 2019. |
| C.7 | Dividend policy | The Company's dividend policy has been to pay a quarterly dividend in support of its main objective to maximise returns to shareholders. All of the Company's free cash flow was distributed subject to maintaining a robust cash buffer to support working capital requirements, planned capital expenditure and uncertain future market prospects. |
| Since June 2013, the Company has consistently paid a quarterly dividend and during this time has distributed USD 12.00 (NOK 83.22) per share in this respect. With the ordering of two new-build high-end semi submersible rigs in March 2018 and 2019, plus an agreement for a further two independent rig options, the Company is now in a growth and investment phase. The Board of Directors has, therefore, on 14 August 2018 decided to suspend the dividend and will resume same when the Company again reaches an appropriate free cash flow situation.There are no current estimates regarding the potential future dividend level or timing of dividend payments. |
||
| Any future dividends proposed will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon the Group's financial position, earnings and other factors. |
||
| There are no current estimates regarding the potential future dividend level or timing of dividend payments. |
| D.1 | Key information on the key risks that are specific to the |
Prospective investors should consider, among other factors, the following risks relating to the Group and its business: |
|---|---|---|
| issuer or its industry | • The Company's fleet currently consists of two rigs and any operational downtime or any failure to secure employment at satisfactory rates will affect its results more significantly than for a company with a larger fleet. As of the date of this Prospectus, WilPhoenix is on charter and will continue to be on charter until mid September |
| 2019, with further options until March 2020. WilHunter is currently cold stacked. The Company's ability to obtain new contracts will depend on the prevailing market conditions. |
|---|
| • Contracts in the offshore sector require high standards of safety, and it is important to note that all offshore contracts are associated with considerable risks and responsibilities. These include technical, operational, commercial and political risks, and it is impossible to insure against all the types of risk and liabilities mentioned. |
| • The Company's operations are subject to hazards inherent in the drilling industry, such as blowouts, loss of well control, lost or stuck drill strings, equipment defects, cratering, fires, explosions and pollution. |
| • The market for the Company's services is characterised by continual and rapid technological developments that have resulted in, and will likely continue to result in, substantial improvements in equipment functions and performance. As a result, the Company's future success and profitability will be dependent in part upon its ability to improve existing services and related equipment, address the increasingly sophisticated needs of its customers and anticipate changes in technology and industry standards and respond to technological developments on a timely basis. |
| • While the Company believes that its rigs are in a good condition, the rigs will periodically need to undergo repairs or upgrading. The timing and costs of repairs on rigs are difficult to predict with certainty and may be substantial. |
| • The service life of the rigs to be operated by the Company will ultimately depend on their efficiency. There can be no assurance of how long the rigs will be in operation. |
| • The offshore contract drilling industry is cyclical and volatile. The Company's business depends on the level of activity of oil exploration, and development and production in the North Sea and internationally. Demand for the Company's services may be adversely affected by declines in exploration, development and production activity associated with depressed oil prices. |
| • The profitability and cash flow of the Company's operations will be dependent upon the market price of oil and gas, as the Company's customers are mainly oil companies. The price of oil and gas is known to fluctuate, and oil and gas prices are |
| affected by numerous factors beyond the Company's control. |
||
|---|---|---|
| • The drilling market is highly competitive. Drilling contracts are mostly awarded on a competitive bid basis, with intense price competition frequently being the primary factor determining which qualified contractor is awarded the job. Many of the Company's competitors have significantly larger resources than the Company. |
||
| • The mature nature of the UK continental shelf and the Norwegian continental shelf could result in less drilling activity in the areas, thereby reducing demand for the Company's services. Because a large number of oil and natural gas prospects in these regions have already been drilled, additional prospects of sufficient size and quality could be more difficult to identify. |
||
| • The Company is dependent upon having access to long term funding. There can be no assurance that the Company may not experience net cash flow shortfalls exceeding the Company's available funding sources nor can there be any assurance that the Company will be able to raise new equity, or arrange new borrowing facilities, on favourable terms and in amounts necessary to conduct its ongoing and future operations, should this be required. |
||
| • Most drilling contracts provide for the payment of a fixed dayrate during periods of operation, and reduced dayrates during periods of other activities. Many of the Company's operating costs are unpredictable and can vary based on events beyond the Company's control. |
||
| D.3 | Key information on the key risks that are specific to the |
Prospective investors should consider, among other factors, the following risks relating to the Group and its securities: |
| securities | • The Company's sole shareholder for purpose of UK law is DNB Bank ASA, and any person trading in the Company's shares does so in reliance on the Company's registrar agreement with DNB Bank ASA. For the purpose of English law, the VPS Registrar is regarded as the owner of the Shares. The beneficial owners of the Shares must look solely to the VPS Registrar for exercising any shareholder interest in the Company, including receiving payment of dividends and exercising voting rights. |
|
| • The trading price of the Shares could fluctuate significantly. |
||
| • The market price of the Shares could decline due |
| to sales of a large number of the Shares in the market or the perception that such sales could occur. Such sales could also make it more difficult for the Company to offer equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that are deemed appropriate. |
|---|
| • It is possible that the Company may in the future decide to offer additional Shares or other securities in order to finance new capital-intensive projects, in connection with unanticipated liabilities or expenses or for any other purposes. Any such additional offering could reduce the proportionate ownership and voting interests of holders of Shares, as well as the earnings per Share and the net asset value per Share of the Company, and any offering by the Company could have a material adverse effect on the market price of the Shares. |
| • The Shares have not been registered under the US Securities Act or any US state securities laws or any other jurisdiction outside of Norway and are not expected to be registered in the future. As such, the Shares may not be offered or sold except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and applicable securities laws. In addition, there can be no assurances that shareholders residing or domiciled in the United States will be able to participate in future capital increases or rights offerings. |
Section E - Offer
| E.1 | The total net proceeds and an estimate of the total expenses |
The gross proceeds to the Company from the Private Placement amounted to USD 20 million. The costs and the expenses of, and incidental to, the listing of the Private Placement Shares amounted to approximately USD 0.50 million. Based on this, the net proceeds to the Company from the Private Placement was approximately USD 19.50 million. |
|---|---|---|
| E.2a | Reasons for the Private Placement and use of proceeds |
The proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to part finance the equity requirement for the building of the new semi-submersible drilling rig for hard environment use as declared by the Company on 8 March 2019. The new drilling rig will be built by the yard Keppel FELS in Singapore at a price of approximately USD 425 million, with planned delivery in March 2022. |
| E.3 | Terms and conditions of the offering |
Not applicable. The Private Placement was completed on 11 March 2019 and the Private Placement Shares were issued on 14 March 2019. |
| E.4 | Material interests in the Private Placement |
The Managers or their affiliates have provided from time to time, and may provide in the future, investment and commercial banking services to the Company and its |
| affiliates in the ordinary course of business, for which they may have received and may continue to receive customary fees and commissions. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investments or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so. The Managers received a management fee in connection with the Private Placement and, as such, had an interest in the Private Placement. Beyond the above-mentioned, the Company is not aware of any interest, including conflicting ones, of any natural or legal persons involved in the Private Placement. |
||
|---|---|---|
| E.4 | Selling shareholders and lock-up agreements |
Not applicable. There were no selling shareholders in the Private Placement, nor are there any lock-up restrictions on the Private Placement Shares. |
| E.6 | Dilution resulting from the Private Placement |
The Private Placement resulted in an immediate dilution of approximately 11% for the existing shareholders who do did not participate in the Private Placement. |
| E.7 | Estimated expenses charged to investor |
Not applicable. The Company will not charge any expenses to the investors. |
An investment in the Company and the Shares involves inherent risks. Before making an investment decision with respect to the Shares, investors should carefully consider the risk factors set forth below and all information contained in this Prospectus, including the Audited Financial Statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described in this Section 2 are the principal known risks and uncertainties faced by the Group as of the date hereof that the Company believes are relevant to an investment in the Shares.
An investment in the Shares is suitable only for investors who understand the risks associated with this type of investment and who can afford to lose all or part of their investment. The absence of negative past experience associated with a given risk factor does not mean that the risks and uncertainties described in that risk factor are not a genuine potential threat to an investment in the Shares. If any of the following risks were to materialise, individually or together with other circumstances, they could have a material and adverse effect on the Group and/or its business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and/or prospects, which could cause a decline in the value and trading price of the Shares, resulting in the loss of all or part of an investment in the Shares.
The order in which the risks are presented does not reflect the likelihood of their occurrence or the magnitude of their potential impact on the Group's business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and/or prospects. The risks mentioned herein could materialise individually or cumulatively. The information in this Section 2 is as of the date of this Prospectus.
The offshore contract drilling industry is cyclical and volatile. The Company's business depends on the level of activity of oil exploration, development and production in the North Sea and internationally. The availability of quality drilling prospects, exploration success, relative production costs, the stage of reservoir development, political concerns and regulatory requirements all affect customers' levels of activity and drilling campaigns. Demand for the Company's services may be adversely affected by declines in exploration, development and production activity associated with depressed oil prices. Even the perceived risk of depressed oil prices and changes in the UK North Sea and the Norwegian Continental Shelf (the "NCS") tax regime often causes exploration and production companies to reduce their spending.
The profitability and cash flow of the Company's operations will be dependent upon the market price of oil and gas, as the Company's customers are mainly oil companies. The price of oil and gas is known to fluctuate. Oil and gas prices are affected by numerous factors beyond the Company's control, including economic and political conditions, levels of supply and demand, the policies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the level of production in non-OPEC countries, the cost of exploring for, developing, producing and delivering oil and gas, currency exchange rates and the availability of alternate energy sources and political and military conflicts in oil-producing and other countries. If the price of oil and gas products should drop significantly, this could have a material adverse effect on the Company.
Utilization rates, which are the number of days a rig actually works divided by the number of days the rig is available for work, and dayrates, which are the contract prices customers pay for rigs per day, are also affected by the total supply of comparable rigs available for service in the geographic markets in which the Company competes. Improvements in demand in a geographic market may cause the Company's competitors to respond by moving competing rigs into the market, thus intensifying price competition. Significant new rig construction could also intensify price competition. In the past, there have been prolonged periods of rig oversupply with correspondingly depressed utilization rates and dayrates largely due to earlier, speculative construction of new rigs. Improvements in dayrates and expectations of longer-term, sustained improvements in utilization rates and dayrates for drilling rigs may lead to construction of new rigs. These increases in the supply of rigs could depress the utilization rates and dayrates for the Company's rigs and materially reduce its revenues and profitability.
The drilling market is highly competitive. Drilling contracts are mostly awarded on a competitive bid basis, with intense price competition frequently being the primary factor determining which qualified contractor is awarded the job. Many of the Company's competitors have significantly larger resources than the Company.
The Company's drilling units meet the stringent requirements of the UK continental shelf (the "UKCS") and will meet similar requirements once operations are entered in the NCS. The mature nature of these regions could result in less drilling activity in the areas, thereby reducing demand for the Company's services. The UKCS and the NCS are mature oil and natural gas production regions that have experienced substantial seismic survey and exploration activity for many years. Because a large number of oil and natural gas prospects in these regions have already been drilled, additional prospects of sufficient size and quality could be more difficult to identify. Oil and natural gas companies may be unable to obtain financing necessary to drill prospects in these regions. The decrease in the size of oil and natural gas prospects, the decrease in production or the failure to obtain such financing may result in reduced drilling activity on the UKCS and the NCS and reduced demand for the Company's services.
The Company's services are affected by governmental laws and regulations. The industry in which the Company operates is dependent on demand for services from the oil and gas industry and, accordingly, is indirectly also affected by changing laws and regulations relating to the energy business in general. The laws and regulations affecting the Company's business and services include, among others laws, and regulations relating to;
The Company and its customers are required to invest financial and managerial resources to comply with these laws and regulations. The Company cannot predict the future costs of complying with these laws and regulations, and any new laws or regulations could materially increase the Company' expenditures in the future. Existing laws or regulations or adoption of new laws or regulations limiting exploration or production activities by oil and gas companies or imposing more stringent restrictions on such activities could adversely affect the Company by increasing its operating costs, reducing the demand for its services and restricting its ability to operate its drilling units.
Furthermore, there is a risk related to the UK formally leaving the European Union (the "EU"), which has been scheduled for no later than 31 October 2019, as the Group conducts business operations and has its registered office and its home state in the UK. As of this date, it is still uncertain how UK's exit from the EU will impact the market in general and particularly, companies conducting its businesses in both the UK and the EU, as well as taxation, trade regulation and other factors that could be adversely impacted by the negotiations and outcomes of the UK leaving the EU. There is a risk that the Group's business in the UK could be adversely affected by the outcome of the exit.
War, military tension and terrorist attacks have, among other things, caused instability in the world's financial and commercial markets. This has in turn significantly increased political and economic instability in some of the geographic markets in which the Company operates (or may operate in the future) and has contributed to high levels of volatility in prices for, among other things, oil and gas. Continuing instability may cause further disruption to financial and commercial markets and contribute to even higher levels of volatility in prices. In addition, acts of terrorism, piracy, sabotage and threats of armed conflicts in or around the various areas in which the Company operates could limit or disrupt the Company's markets and operations, including disruptions from evacuation of personnel, cancellation of contracts or the loss of personnel or assets. Armed conflicts, terrorism, piracy, sabotage and their effects on the Company or markets in which the Company operates may significantly affect the Company's business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations in the future.
The Company is dependent upon having access to long term funding. There can be no assurance that the Company may not experience net cash flow shortfalls exceeding the Company's available funding sources nor can there be any assurance that the Company will be able to raise new equity, or arrange new borrowing facilities, on favourable terms and in amounts necessary to conduct its ongoing and future operations, should this be required. Available sources of liquidity or funding for the Company may be affected by general market conditions, such as a downturn in the offshore drilling industry and/or the price of oil.
The Company may not be able to secure new sources of liquidity or funding, should projected or actual liquidity fall below levels the Company requires. The factors giving rise to the Company's liquidity needs could also constrain the ability to replenish the liquidity of the Company. The Company may not have access to funding from banks and other lenders in the amounts or on the terms it may be seeking. These same factors could also impact the ability of the Company's shareholders to provide it with liquidity, and there can be no assurance that the Company could obtain additional shareholder funding. Furthermore, if necessary financing cannot be obtained by the Company on reasonable terms, it may result in excessive dilution to the Company's equity. Future share issues may result in the existing shareholders of the Company sustaining dilution to their relative proportion of the equity in the Company.
Failure to access necessary liquidity could require the Company to scale back its operations, postpone or cancel plans to acquire rigs or could have other materially adverse consequences for its business and its ability to meet its obligations.
There is a risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient capital to finance its newbuild contracts or future newbuild contracts it may enter. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain financing in such large amounts as generally required by newbuild contracts, nor obtaining necessary financing in a timely manner on acceptable terms. The Company's ability to meet the required financing terms of its newbuild contracts and future newbuild contracts it may enter into will accordingly depend on the Company's profitability and cash flow of the operations, which may be materially affected by a downturn in the offshore contract drilling industry and the market price of oil and gas, as the Company's customers are mainly oil companies.
Furthermore, the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing may be affected by the Company's ability to secure favourable drilling contracts. In cases where new contracts are entered into at dayrates substantially below the existing dayrates or on terms less favourable compared to existing contracts terms, there is a risk that the Company will not be able to raise the required financing or be forced to raise the financing at higher costs.
Borrowings create leverage. To the extent income derived from assets obtained with borrowed funds exceeds the interest and other expenses that the Group will have to pay, the Group's net income will be greater than if borrowings were not made. Conversely, if the income from the assets obtained with borrowed funds is insufficient to cover the cost of such borrowings, the net income of the Group will be less than if borrowings were not made. The Group will borrow only when it is believed that such borrowings will benefit the Group after taking into account considerations such as the costs of the borrowing and the likely returns on the assets purchased with the borrowed monies, but no assurances can be given that the Company will be successful in this respect.
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company has no debt and has no plans to take on any debt. Debt financing agreements may however be entered in the future. If the Company is unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in future debt financing agreements, there could be a default under the terms of those agreements. The Company's ability to comply with restrictions and covenants in future debt financing agreements, including meeting financial ratios and measures, is dependent on its future performance and may be affected by events beyond its control. If a default occurs under these agreements, lenders could terminate their commitments to lend or accelerate the outstanding loans and declare all amounts borrowed due and payable. Borrowings under debt arrangements that contain cross-acceleration or cross-default provisions may also be accelerated and become due and payable. If any of these events occur, the Company cannot guarantee that the Company's assets will be sufficient to repay in full all of its outstanding indebtedness, and the Company may be unable to find alternative financing. Even if the Company could obtain alternative financing, that financing might not be on terms that are favourable or acceptable.
Due to its international operations, the Company may experience currency exchange losses when revenues are received and expenses are paid in nonconvertible currencies or when Awilco Drilling does not hedge an exposure to a foreign currency. The Company may also incur losses as a result of an inability to collect revenues because of a shortage of convertible currency available to the country of operation, controls over currency exchange or controls over the repatriation of income or capital. In order to minimise the exposure to currency fluctuations the Company enters into forward exchange contracts depending on requirements for future non-functional currency expenditures.
Most drilling contracts provide for the payment of a fixed dayrate during periods of operation, and reduced dayrates during periods of other activities. Many of the Company's operating costs are unpredictable and can vary based on events beyond the Company's control. The Company's gross margins will therefore vary over the terms of its contracts. If the Company's costs increase or it encounters unforeseen costs, it may not be able to recover them from its customers, which could adversely affect its financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Furthermore, the Company's operating costs may also be affected by currency fluctuations as described above in Section 2.2.5.
The revenues of the Company will depend on the financial position of its customers and also to a certain extent the willingness of these to honour their obligations towards the Company. There can be no guarantees that the financial position of the Company's customers and other contract parties will be sufficient to perform their obligations under the contracts with the Company. Failures by customers or other contract parties to comply with their contracts with the Company might have a significant adverse effect on the revenues and financial position of the Company.
The Company conducts its operations through subsidiaries in various countries. Tax laws and regulations are highly complex and subject to interpretation. Consequently, the Company is subject to changing tax laws, treaties and regulations in and between countries in which it operates. The Company's income tax expense is based upon its interpretation of the tax laws in effect in various countries at the time that the expense was incurred. A change in these tax laws, treaties or regulations, or in the interpretation thereof, which is beyond the Company's control could result in a materially higher tax expense or a higher effective tax rate on the Company's earnings.
The Company's business is dependent on a limited number of drilling rigs. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company's fleet consists of two rigs and any operational downtime or any failure to secure employment at satisfactory rates will affect its results more significantly than for a company with a larger fleet. Significant operational downtime may result from key capital equipment being lost or damaged. Furthermore, frequent rig mobilizations could be disruptive to the Company's financial results if it experiences delays due to adverse weather, third party services or physical damage to its rigs. To compensate for above risks the Company may arrange Loss of Hire insurance that on certain conditions and for a defined period provides alternative hire.
The Company's rig WilPhoenix is on charter and will continue to be on charter until at least December 2019. Options remain under the contract for five further wells. The Company's rig WilHunter is currently cold stacked. The Company's ability to obtain new contracts will depend on the prevailing market conditions. In cases where the Company is not able to obtain new contracts in direct continuation, or where new contracts are entered into at dayrates substantially below the existing dayrates or on terms less favourable compared to existing contracts terms, the Company's revenues and profitability could be adversely affected. As further described in Section 6.4.3 "Newbuilding contracts", the Company entered into a contract with Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore on 9 March 2018 for the building of a new semi-submersible drilling rig with a total cost of approximately USD 425 million and expected delivery in March 2021. Further, as the Company announced on 8 March 2019, the Company has declared an option with Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore for the building of an additional semi-submersible drilling rig. The total cost is estimated to be approximately USD 425 million and expected delivery is in March 2022. It may prove difficult to employ the new rigs at acceptaple dayrates, which may adversely affect the revenues and profitability of the Group.
The delivery and the condition of the rigs may be affected by several risks beyond the Company's control. There is a risk that the shipyard will not be able to deliver the rigs as scheduled or that the total cost for the rig will increase. Any delay in the delivery or increased cost may adversely affect the Company's revenues and profitability. Furthermore, the Company may not be able to supervise the shipyard and the shipyard's construction of the rig adquately. As a result, there can be no assurance that the rigs will be delivered in the technical condition assumed by the Company and damages or defects to the rigs may be discovered after the delivery. There is a risk that particular unforseen technical problems or deficiencies may occur on the rigs, and any operational problem may lead to unexpectedly high operating costs and/or lost earnings, which may have a material adverse effect on the Company.
Compliance with safety and other drilling rig requirements imposed by industry requirements or regulations, among other, may be costly and could reduce the Company's net cash flows and net income. Furthermore, the market value of the rigs and any future rigs the Company may acquire may decrease which could cause the Company to incur losses if the Company decides to sell the rigs. The Company may also not be able to secure employment for the rigs at satisfactory level and at acceptable day rates, or be able to establish an effective Norwegian organization for the management of the rigs, which may affect the Company's operating results.
There is a risk that the new drilling rigs will not be delivered according to the agreed delivery dates, as stated above in Section 2.3.2 above. Delayed delivery may be caused by a variety of factors beyond the control of the Company. There can be no assurance that the rigs are delivered on time. Completion of the construction of the rigs is subject to, but not limited to, the following risks:
Delays may incur losses and have a significant adverse effect on the revenues and financial position of the Company. If a delay occurs, the Company cannot guarantee that it will be entitled to compensation pursuant to the new building contracts, nor can it be guaranteed that any compensation will cover the losses incurred as a result of delays.
Significant delays may also have a negative impact on the Group's reputation and customer relationships. The Group could also be exposed to contractual penalties for failure to commence operations in a timely manner. Further, delays may result in renegotiation or cancellation of employment contracts secured for the new rigs.
The Company's operations are subject to hazards inherent in the drilling industry, such as blowouts, loss of well control, lost or stuck drill strings, equipment defects, craterings, fires, explosions and pollution. Contract drilling and well servicing require the use of heavy equipment and exposure to hazardous conditions, which may subject the Company to liability claims by employees, customers and third parties. These hazards can cause personal injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment, pollution or environmental damage, claims by third parties or customers and suspension of operations. The operation of the Company's drilling units is also subject to hazards inherent in marine operations, either while on-site or during mobilisation, such as capsizing, sinking, grounding, collision, damage from severe weather and marine life infestations. Operations may also be suspended because of machinery breakdowns, abnormal drilling conditions, and failure of subcontractors to perform or supply goods or services, or personnel shortages. Insurance coverage, both Loss of Hire and Hull and Machinery insurance, will prove compensation in such instances.
The Company's insurance policies and contractual rights to indemnity are based on the established industry standard "knock-for-knock" principles. However, they may not adequately cover losses, and the Company does not have insurance coverage or rights to indemnity for all risks. The Company currently maintains insurance coverage for property damage, occupational injury and illness, and general and marine third-party liabilities. Pollution and environmental risks are generally not totally insurable. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company's drilling units, WilHunter and WilPhoenix, are covered by existing insurance policies.
The Company has adequate insurance coverage relevant for its envisaged operations. However, in all situations it will not provide sufficient funds to protect the Company from all liabilities that could result from its drilling operations. The amount of the Company's insurance cover may be less than the related impact on enterprise value after a loss. The Company's coverage includes policy limits. As a result, the Company retain the risk for any losses in excess of these limits. Any such lack of reimbursement may cause the Company to incur substantial costs. In addition, the Company could decide to retain substantially more risk through self-insurance in the future. Moreover, no assurance can be made that the Company has, or will be able to maintain in the future, adequate insurance against certain risks.
If a significant accident or other event occurs and is not fully covered by the Company's insurance or any enforceable or recoverable indemnity from a client, it could adversely affect the Company's consolidated statement of financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
The market for the Company's services is characterised by continual and rapid technological developments that have resulted in, and will likely continue to result in, substantial improvements in equipment functions and performance. As a result, the Company's future success and profitability will be dependent in part upon its ability to:
If the Company is not successful in acquiring new equipment or upgrading its existing equipment on a timely and cost effective basis in response to technological developments or changes in standards in the industry, this could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business.
The Group relies on information technology, telecommunications and other infrastructure systems in its day-to-day business. The Group is subject to several risks associated with maintaining, developing and securing its information technology ("IT") systems. The Group's systems could be vulnerable to damage or disruption caused by circumstances beyond the Group's control, such as system failures, network failures, computer viruses, cyberattacks and power outages. There can be no assurance that the Group will be able to detect, prevent or secure its systems sufficiently against such disruptions. Any failure or disruption of the Group's systems to perform as anticipated could disrupt the Group's business and result in significant remediation costs, transactions errors, downtime, loss of data and legal proceedings.
The Company's operations are subject to regulations controlling the discharge of materials into the environment, requiring removal and clean-up of materials that may harm the environment or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. As an operator of mobile drilling units the Company may be liable (under applicable laws and regulations or contractually) for damages and costs incurred in connection with spills of oil and other chemicals and substances related to its operations, and the Company may also be subject to significant fines in connection with spills.
Laws and regulations protecting the environment have become more stringent in recent years, and may in some cases impose strict liability, rendering a person liable for environmental damage without regard to negligence. These laws and regulations may expose the Company to liability for the conduct of or conditions caused by others, or for acts that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time they were performed. The application of these requirements or the adoption of new requirements could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company may be able to obtain some degree of contractual indemnification pursuant to which its clients agree to protect, hold harmless and indemnify against liability for pollution, well and environmental damage; however, there is no assurance that the Company can obtain such indemnities in all of its contracts or that, in the event of extensive pollution and environmental damage, its clients would have the financial capability or the willingness to fulfil their contractual obligations. Also, these indemnities may be held to be unenforceable as a result of public policy or for other reasons.
Contracts in the offshore sector require high standards of safety, and it is important to note that all offshore contracts are associated with considerable risks and responsibilities. These include technical, operational, commercial and political risks, and it is impossible to insure against all the types of risk and liabilities mentioned. For instance, under some contracts the Company may have liability for losses caused by its own gross negligence or wilful misconduct.
While the Company believes that its rigs are in a good condition, the rigs will periodically need to undergo repairs or upgrading. The timing and costs of repairs on rigs are difficult to predict with certainty and may be substantial. Many of these expenses, such as drydocking and certain repairs for normal wear and tear, are typically not covered by insurance. Large repair expenses could decrease the Company's profits. In addition, repair time means a loss of revenue.
2.3.10 Dependence on senior management and other key personnel
The Company's development and prospects are dependent upon the continued services and performance of its senior management and other key personnel. The loss of the services of any of the senior management or key personnel may have an adverse impact on the Company. In addition to the senior management the Company depends on professional and operational personnel. An inability to attract and retain such professional and operational personnel, or the unavailability of such skilled crews, could have an adverse impact on the Company.
The service life of the rigs to be operated by the Company will ultimately depend on their efficiency. There can be no assurance of how long the rigs will be in operation. The capital associated with the repair and maintenance of each rig increases with age. In addition, there may be technical risks associated with ageing rigs, including operational problems leading to unexpectedly high operating costs and/or lost earnings, and which may have a material adverse effect on the financial position of the Company.
There is a risk that labour cost might increase and accordingly negatively affect the Company's financial position. The offshore contract drilling industry has been in an extended downturn, and it is possible that high quality experienced labour has permanently left the industry. In periods of high utilization and demand for drilling services, it is more difficult and costly to recruit and retain qualified employees which could impact the Company's ability to fully staff and operate the rigs. As a result, the Company's financial position could be affected.
The Company's sole shareholder for purpose of UK law is DNB Bank ASA, and any person trading in the Company's shares does so in reliance on the Company's registrar agreement with DNB Bank ASA. DNB Bank ASA, as VPS Registrar, is registered as the legal owner of the Shares in the register of members which the Company is required to maintain pursuant to English law. In the event that the agreement with the VPS Registrar is terminated, there can be no assurance that the Company will enter into a replacement agreement on substantially the same terms or at all.
For the purpose of English law, the VPS Registrar is regarded as the owner of the Shares. The beneficial owners of the Shares must look solely to the VPS Registrar for exercising any shareholder interest in the Company, including receiving payment of dividends and exercising voting rights.
The trading price of the Shares could fluctuate significantly in response to quarterly variations in operating results, adverse business developments, interest rates, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts, matters announced in respect of major customers or competitors, changes to the regulatory environment in which the Company operates, or a variety of other factors outside the control of the Company.
The market price of the Shares could also decline due to sales of a large number of the Shares in the market or the perception that such sales could occur. Such sales could also make it more difficult for the Company to offer equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that are deemed appropriate.
It is possible that the Company may in the future decide to offer additional Shares or other securities to finance new capital-intensive projects, in connection with unanticipated liabilities or expenses or for any other purposes. Any such additional offering could reduce the proportionate ownership and voting interests of holders of Shares, as well as the earnings per Share and the net asset value per Share of the Company, and any offering by the Company could have a material adverse effect on the market price of the Shares.
The Shares have not been registered under the US Securities Act or any US state securities laws or any other jurisdiction outside of Norway and are not expected to be registered in the future. As such, the Shares may not be offered or sold except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and applicable securities laws. In addition, there can be no assurances that shareholders residing or domiciled in the United States will be able to participate in future capital increases or rights offerings.
The operating hazards inherent in the Company's business expose the Company to litigation, including personal injury litigation, environmental litigation, contractual litigation with clients, intellectual property litigation, tax or securities litigation, and maritime lawsuits including the possible arrest of the Company's drilling units. The Company is currently not involved in any litigation that, in the Company's view, may have a significant effect on the Company's financial position or profitability. However, the Company anticipates that the Company will in the future, be involved in litigation matters from time to time. The Company cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any claim or other litigation matter. Any future litigation may have an adverse effect on the Company's business, financial position, results of operations and the Company's ability to pay dividends, because of potential negative outcomes, the costs associated with prosecuting or defending such lawsuits, and the diversion of management's attention to these matters.
The Company's rigs could be requisitioned by a government in the case of war or other emergencies or become subject to arrest. This could significantly and adversely affect the earnings of the Company as well as the Company's liquidity.
Awilco Drilling is a holding company and does not conduct any business operations of its own. The Company's principal assets are the equity interests it owns in its operating subsidiaries, either directly or indirectly. As a result, the Company is dependent upon cash dividends, distributions or other transfers it receives from its subsidiaries to repay any debt it may incur, and to meet its other obligations. The ability of the Company's subsidiaries to pay dividends and make payments to the Company will depend on their operating results and may be restricted by, among other things, applicable corporate, tax and other laws and regulations and agreements of those subsidiaries. For example, the corporate laws of some jurisdictions prohibit the payment of dividends by any subsidiary unless the subsidiary has a capital surplus or net profits in the current or immediately preceding fiscal year. Payments or distributions from the Company's subsidiaries could also be subject to restrictions on dividends or repatriation of earnings under applicable local law, and monetary transfer restrictions in the jurisdictions in which the Company's subsidiaries operate. The Company's subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities. Any right that the Company has to receive any assets of or distributions from any subsidiary upon the bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation or reorganization of such subsidiary, or to realize proceeds from the sale of the assets of any subsidiary, will be junior to the claims of that subsidiary's creditors, including trade creditors.
This Prospectus has been prepared in connection with the Listing of the Private Placement Shares.
The Board of Directors of Awilco Drilling Plc accepts responsibility for the information contained in this Prospectus. The members of the Board of Directors confirm that, after having taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case, the information contained in this Prospectus is, to the best of their knowledge, in accordance with the facts and contains no omissions likely to affect its import.
5 June 2019
Sigurd E. Thorvildsen Chairman
Henrik Fougner Board member
Daniel Gold Board member
John Simpson Board member
Synne Syrrist Board member
The information contained in this Prospectus is current as at the date of the Prospectus and is subject to change or amendment without notice. In accordance with section 7-15 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, significant new factors, material mistakes or inaccuracies relating to the information included in this Prospectus, which are capable of affecting the assessment of the Shares between the time of approval of this Prospectus by the Norwegian FSA and listing of the Private Placement Shares, will be included in a supplement to this Prospectus. Except as required by applicable law and stock exchange rules the Company does not undertake any duty to update the information in this Prospectus. The publication of this Prospectus shall not under any circumstances create any implication that there has been no change in the Group's affairs or that the information herein is correct as of any date subsequent to the date of this Prospectus.
The Company's audited consolidated financial statements as of, and for the years ended, 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016 (the "Audited Financial Statements"), have been prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, as adopted by the EU ("IFRS"). The Company's unaudited interim financial statements as of, and for the three month period ended 31 March 2019, including the comparable interim financial statements as of, and for the three month period ended 31 March 2018, (the "Interim Financial Statements") have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 Financial Reports ("IAS 34"). The Audited Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements are incorporated by reference in this Prospectus in Section 15.1 "Incorporation by reference".
Percentages and certain amounts included in this Prospectus have been rounded for ease of presentation. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be the precise sum of the figures that precede them.
This Prospectus contains statistics, data, statements and other information relating to markets, market sizes, market shares, market positions and other industry data pertaining to the Group's business and the industries and markets in which it operates. Unless otherwise indicated, such information reflects the Group's estimates based on analysis of multiple sources, including data compiled by professional organisations, consultants and analysts and information otherwise obtained from other third party sources, such as annual financial statements and other presentations published by listed companies operating within the same industry as the Group, as well as the Group's internal data and its own experience, or on a combination of the foregoing. Unless otherwise indicated in the Prospectus, the basis for any statements regarding the Group's competitive position is based on the Company's own assessment and knowledge of the market in which it operates.
The Company confirms that where information has been sourced from a third party, such information has been accurately reproduced and that as far as the Company is aware and is able to ascertain from information published by that third party, no facts have been omitted that would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading. Where information sourced from third parties has been presented, the source of such information has been identified. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligations to, update industry or market data set forth in this Prospectus.
Industry publications or reports generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed. The Company has not independently verified and cannot give any assurances as to the accuracy of market data contained in this Prospectus that was extracted from these industry publications or reports and reproduced herein. Market data and statistics are inherently predictive and subject to uncertainty and not necessarily reflective of actual market conditions. Such statistics are based on market research, which itself is based on sampling and subjective judgments by both the researchers and the respondents, including judgments about what types of products and transactions should be included in the relevant market.
As a result, prospective investors should be aware that statistics, data, statements and other information relating to markets, market sizes, market shares, market positions and other industry data in this Prospectus and projections, assumptions and estimates based on such information may not be reliable indicators of the Company's future performance and the future performance of the industry in which it operates. Such indicators are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to the limitations described above and to a variety of other factors, including those described in Section 2 "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this Prospectus.
This Prospectus contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this Prospectus other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding the Company's future results of operations and financial position, its business strategy and plans, and its objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those described in Section 2 "Risk Factors", and are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Group's present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Group operates. The actual results, performance or achievements of the Group may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Given these uncertainties, investors should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events or performance.
Except as required by the applicable law or stock exchange rules, the Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking, to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this Prospectus or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations.
Forwards-looking statements are found in Sections 5 "Industry and Market", 6 "Business", 10 "Board of Directors, Management, employees and corporate governance" and 11 "Corporate information and description of the share capital".
The Company has engaged ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Fearnley Securities AS and Clarksons Platou Securities AS as Managers of the Private Placement. The Managers have been acting for the Company and no one else in this respect. The Managers will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of the Managers or for providing advice in relation to the Listing. In the ordinary course of their businesses, the Managers and certain of their respective affiliates have engaged, and may
continue to engage, in investment and commercial banking transactions with the Company and its subsidiaries.
The contents of this Prospectus are not to be construed as legal, business or tax advice. Each prospective investor should consult his or her own lawyer, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, financial or tax advice in relation to any purchase of any Shares. Each prospective investor should consult with such advisers as needed to make its investment decision and to determine whether it is legally permitted to hold any Shares under applicable legal investment or similar laws or regulations. Investors should be aware that they may be required to bear the financial risks of any investment in the Shares for an indefinite period of time.
In certain sections of the Prospectus, information sourced from third parties has been reproduced. In such cases, the source of the information is always identified. Such third party information has been accurately reproduced. As far as the Company is aware, and is able to ascertain from information published by the relevant third party, no facts have been omitted which would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading.
This Section outlines the market and the industry the Company operates in, and comprises certain information that are based on estimates and market data from external parties, hereunder information related to: market environment, market development, market trends, industry trends, competition and market dynamics. The market data has been compiled and obtained from various professional sources, including ABG Sundal Collier Equity research and Fearnley Securities, in addition to market data from other external and publicly available sources. Any forecast information and other Forward-looking Statements in this Section are not guarantees of future outcomes and these future outcomes could differ materially from current expectations contemplated is this Section. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences, see Section 2 "Risk Factors" for further details.
The Group operates in the offshore drilling industry, which constitutes an instrumental part of the international oil service industry. The oil service industry comprises several subsegments providing various services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production ("E&P") companies, ensuring that the process from field discovery to production and freight logistics is handled effectively. The fundamental driver of demand for the oil service industry is derived from the activity level of investments in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, conducted by the oil companies.
The offshore drilling industry provides drilling, well construction and workover services to E&P companies, using relocatable offshore rigs, also known as Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (hereby "MODU's"). MODU's are characterized as being transportable in which they can relocate between various regions, in contrast to fixed platforms. The offshore rigs play a crucial part of the upstream E&P value chain, providing services related to exploration of new oil and gas deposits and in well preparations in the early stage of the field development process, including development drilling. Offshore drilling is typically carried out in order to explore and subsequently extract oil and natural gas from rock formations beneath the seabed, from units located above the sea level. Furthermore, offshore drilling is applied in projects covering a wide variety of locations and operations, from shallow waters in the Middle East to remote and harsh environments in the Barents Sea.
Source: ABG Sundal Collier equity research
The offshore drilling process can emerge from both exploration and further project development operations. The exploration process is typically carried out after an E&P operator has conducted a geologic seismic survey or acquired seismic data of an area in order to assess the potential for oil and gas findings. Subsequently, the operator seeks to hire a contractor to conduct exploratory offshore well drilling at a pre-determined location. The various locations for such drilling operations are key to determine which rigs are suitable for the operations, with each geographic region comprising various geologic challenges, different climate environments, depth levels and regulatory/legislative standards.
In addition to the exploration drilling activity, offshore rigs also participate later in the value chain, including development drilling. Development drilling can be conducted in the early-stage field development before more permanent drilling solutions are installed, or later in the project to extend the longevity of the field and counteract the depletion of the flow of hydrocarbons from the oil and gas reservoirs.
The demand for offshore drilling services is driven by oil and gas companies' investments in new projects and field development programs. These investments are affected by the anticipated oil price in the future, availability of suitable rigs, the availability of quality drilling prospects, relative production costs, lead time requirement as well as the political and regulatory environment. Due to differences in project characteristics, i.e. length and degree of extensiveness that typically vary with location and use, the exposure to cyclicality in demand does to some extent vary among the different rig types. For instance, shallow water rig contracts are typically shorter term. Hence, changes in market conditions tend to have a more immediate impact on such contracts, whereas deep-water contracts for semi-submersible rigs and drillships tend to be more long term and rigid, with changing market conditions having a more delayed impact. However, as the lifting cost in projects in areas conveyed in shallow waters on average have a lower break-even price compared to more remote and complex deep-water projects, the demand for rigs are also, to a varying degree, subject to the market activity level driving the rig dayrates.
The supply-side dynamics are largely characterized with offshore drilling contracts being awarded to the rig contractors on a competitive bid basis. In determining which drilling contractor is awarded the contract, key selection criteria typically involve: pricing, technical specification, on-board equipment, availability and sustainability, rig location, condition of equipment, operating integrity, safety performance record, crew experience, reputation and client relations. The competition for offshore rigs is generally considered to be on a worldwide basis due to the mobility of the rigs. However, the cost of mobilizing and relocating rigs between regions is sometimes considerably high and creates certain barriers to entry for rigs distantly located. Other factors related to various rig locations may pose barriers to entry, including necessary unit and equipment upgrades to comply with specific regional requirements and standards. In addition, the global rig fleet is segmented with various rig types having different specifications, such as winterization capabilities, hook load capacity and cantilever reach, downsizing the total addressable fleet for a given location and job requirement.
Most of the MODU fleet is owned by market participants providing drilling services as their core operations, due to the level of capital and specialization required for such operations. The global fleet of MODU's totals approximately 800 units, commonly divided into three main segments: jack-up rigs, semi-submersible rigs and drillships. In addition, rigs are traditionally divided into various depth categories: Shallow water (0-500 feet), midwater (500 to 4,500 feet), deepwater (4,500-7,500 feet) and ultra-deepwater (+7,500 feet). Further descriptions of these rig categories are described below.
The current jack-up fleet comprises approximately 600 units, of which approximately 90 are under construction. Typical locations where jack-up rigs operate are Gulf of Mexico, Middle East, Southeast Asia and the North Sea (albeit a low fraction of the total number of rigs). Jack-up rigs are mobile drilling platforms standing on the seabed when operating, typically equipped with three steel legs and a self-elevating system that adjusts the platform height to the water depth. When a jack-up rig relocates, it lifts its platform down to the water level until it floats prior to being towed by a tug vessel to the next location. A modern jack-up rig will normally have
the ability to drill multiple wells from the same positon at open water locations or over wellhead platforms without the need for repositioning the rig.
Jack-ups operate in the shallow water segment of the contract drilling market, with most of the modern jack-ups being capable of operating in water depths of up to 350-400 feet, and some of the high-specification modern jack-up rigs can operate in water depths of up to 500 feet.
Semi-submersible rigs are floating platforms equipped with ballasting systems that can vary the draft of the partially submerged hull from a shallow draft during transit and relocation, to a predetermined operational draft (typically 50-80 feet) once the drill is
operating at the well location. The current semi-submersible rig fleet comprises approximately 140 rigs, of which approximately 15 are under construction. Semi-submersible rigs operate in both midwater-, deepwater- and ultra-deepwater areas, in typical locations such as Gulf of Mexico, The North Sea, Brazil etc. Drilling operations are conducted through an opening in the hull where the drill-pipe is positioned. The semi-submersible rig maintains its position above the wellhead either by means of a conventional mooring system and/or by a computerized dynamic positioning system to ensure stability during operations. Semi-submersible rigs' propulsion capabilities range from having no capacity
implying that the vessels need to be towed during relocation, to being self-propelled whereby the rig can be relocated independently without the use of towing vessels. Several variations exist of semi-submersible rigs suited for different locations and/or environments, depending on the specifications the rig is dimensioned and equipped for. The good motion characteristics (i.e. ability to handle rough sea and currents) enable semi-submersibles to the preferred rig type to operate in harsh environments.
Drillships are ships with an on-board propulsion system, often based on a conventional ship hull design, unlike jack-up and semi-submersible rigs. These vessels are also equipped
with full drilling equipment and capabilities, similar to the equipment on semi-submersible rigs. Drillships are often constructed for drilling in deep water, as these locations are often located remotely from the shore, making these vessels with increased mobility suitable for such operations compared to other MODU types. Drilling operations are conducted through openings in the hull, and like semi-submersible rigs, drillings can be equipped with conventional mooring and dynamic positioning systems.
The global drillship fleet comprises approximately 130 units, of which approximately 20 are under construction. The rigs are preferred for operations in deepwater and ultra-deepwater locations due to their specifications and equipment with benign environment, such as Brazil, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, drillships can be used for North Sea operations, however semi-submersibles are typically preferred in these waters due to their robustness and stability in tough waters.
The North Sea is geographically delineated as the offshore area located between Great Britain, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, on the Northern parts of the European continental shelf. In terms of E&P activity, most of the activity is conducted in the offshore areas between the Northern parts of Great Britain and Norway, comprising a large number of existing and planned oil fields, including a well-developed infrastructure.
The Group currently operates rigs compliant with operations in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (the "UKCS"), in which corresponds to the market for harsh environment rigs ("HE") due to the challenging climate and weather conditions that require special equipment and special vessels. Drilling operations on the UKCS are subject to local regulations and requirements, implying that rigs operating in this region must fulfill the various standards set to operate in this region.
Awilco Drilling is also planning to enter operations in other parts of the North Sea, upon delivery of the ordered newbuild rigs as specified in the 2018 and 2019 private placements. These ordered rigs are compliant with operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (the "NCS") and the UKCS. NCS compliant rigs must, similarly to UKCS rigs, be designed and equipped as harsh environment and comply with the operational requirements for the E&P players operating in the region. In addition, NCS compliant rigs have to fulfill different regulatory requirements compared to rigs preferred for UKCS operations, such as the environmental aspect of the units, in which are considered important by the local regulators and authorities.
The North Sea is considered the key market for harsh environmental rigs and comprises a majority of the global HE fleet. Due to challenging climate and weather conditions, rigs used for such operations need special equipment and special vessels. Harsh environment rigs are designed with air-gap and motion characteristics and constructed to withstand higher waves, allowing the units to operate in a tougher climate and in higher waves than conventional rigs, typically certified for operations in down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, harsh environment rigs must comply with strict local legislations and rules, such that the rigs must be designed and constructed specifically for such operations. This limits the number of feasible rigs for the operators on UK and Norwegian part of the North Sea as they must have either a UK Safety Case or Norwegian Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) to rightfully operate. The assignment of converting a conventional rig to become a harsh environmental compliant unit is very costly and provides significant barriers of entry for the market, creating a niche within the overall semi-submersible rig fleet. Subsequently, only a small portion of the global rig fleet can operate in this niche part of the market.
The semi-submersible harsh-environment rigs typically have a different specification level compared to non-HE rigs comprising, inter alia, supporting features such as air gap, steel temperature ratings, winterization and must be regulatory compliant with the local standards to enter UKCS and/or NCS operations. A high-capacity onboard power supply provides sufficient power resources to operate the positioning system, the topside, lighting and heat-tracing for the operations during the winter season. The derrick and other locations are often winterized for most modern rigs, implying that modern HE rigs can operate in all seasons, whereas older HE units in generally cannot work efficiently during the winter season in the most challenging locations such as the Barents Sea.
Semi-submersible rigs, including harsh environment rigs, are traditionally divided into rig generations, from the year the unit was constructed. The rig generation often translates into the specification and the standard of the equipment, albeit there may be cases when an old-generation rig has been fully renovated. In general, 6G rigs are considered being top-modern rigs with high operational efficiency, improved drilling functionality and have the ability to work throughout the year, being winterized. Older rigs, i.e. 3G rigs that have been constructed during the 1980-1985 still play a key factor in the market, making up a significant proportion of the available rig fleet. However, the lion's share of these rigs is either cold stacked, require substantial upgrades to be mobilized and/or costly investments related to the 5-yearly Special Periodic Surveys ("SPS") that are required to fulfill classification requirements. Correspondingly, modern, premium rigs are preferred in the market and warrant a premium compared to older rigs due to their operational excellence and better drilling performance.
| Generation | Unit constructed |
|---|---|
| st generation (1G) | |
| 1 | 1961-1972 |
| nd generation (2G) | |
| 2 | 1973-1979 |
| rd generation (3G) | |
| 3 | 1980-1985 |
| th generation (4G) | |
| 4 | 1986-1997 |
| th generation (5G) | |
| 5 | 1998-2004 |
| th generation (6G) | |
| 6 | 2005 and onwards |
| th generation (7G) | |
| 7 | 2015 and onwards |
Drilling contract prices (hereafter "dayrates"), typically mirror the overall offshore sentiment and the investments in the area, as lower spending on new projects materializes in fewer rig contracts, lowering the fleet utilization and driving down prices. The North Sea rig market have for a long time been awarded dayrates at stable high levels, despite the temporary drop during 2008-2010. However, since the near-peak level in 2014, dayrates have dropped some 60%, albeit with some variation between the different rig segments.
The differences in specifications and equipment needed for the various drilling assignments are key drivers in determining drilling contract prices for the various rigs. Consequently, dayrates are dependent on underlying conditions within each market, due to the variations in specifications and requirements for rigs operating in these markets. Rig tenders on UKCS are generally based on different specifications as well as regulatory and equipment requirements compared to NCS tenders and create, to some extent, two partially disjointed markets driven by the particular market activity. However, these variations are not only constrained within each legislative area of operations, as the differences in contract rates typically can be pointed out to the rig types and the rig specification levels. This implies that the market bifurcation is largely between the premium NCS-compliant HE rigs and traditional HE rigs, the latter including both UKCS and NCS compliant rigs.
The market cyclicality for UKCS operators are driven by the E&P investment activity and project sanctioning by local operators. This development has been on the soft side since the oil price drop in 2014, resulting in declining dayrates for the existing rig fleet. However, dayrates on the UKCS are showing signs of improvements compared to the market lows in 2016 and 2017, as 2018 and 2019 YTD dayrates have come up since the cycle-low.
On the other hand, the activity level on NCS has slightly improved throughout the recent year, driven by improving cost efficiencies and a recent increase in the Brent oil price. The number of floater tenders and Plans for Development and Operation ("PDO's") on the NCS has gradually increased from the 2016 bottom, and the number of project sanctioned on NCS has increased. Consequently, the NCS rig market has seen a recent rebound, in particular for the HE 6G market with new contracts entered at around USD 300k per day, resulting in a gap between dayrates for premium HE-units and traditional 3G HE rates, as the former typically comprises the first rigs to be contracted in a recovering market.
The figure below illustrates the development in dayrates for UK 3G mid-water ("MW"), Norwegian compliant 3G MW and Harsh Environment 6G rigs (compliant with NCS operations).
Dayrate development for North Sea compliant rigs 2006-2019
Source: Fearnley Securities
The dayrates of the harsh environment rigs are closely linked to the fleet utilization rates, where high utilization of the existing fleet historically has resulted in higher dayrates. The utilization rates for 6G HE semi-submersibles have stabilized in the >80% range for the past two years, whereas the utilization for older and less premium units has remained at lower levels despite the recent increase, evident of utilization bifurcation between premium 6G HE and older 3G HE rigs. The figure below illustrates this development.
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Group owns and operates two semi-submersible, harsh environment rigs suitable for North Sea operations, in particular for the UK part of the North Sea. In addition, the Company has entered into agreements with Keppel FELS to purchase two newbuild semi-submersible harsh environment rigs, made for operations on the UKCS or NCS, with the option to order two additional rigs built on the same design. These new rigs are purpose-built for mid-water operations in the North Sea, with a maximum depth level of 1,500m. The rigs are built on the Moss CS60 ECO MW-design, and the contracted rigs are set to be delivered in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The current fleet of North Sea compliant semi-submersible drilling rigs comprises 58 rigs, of which 6 are under constructions/on stand-by. The fleet is characterized by a large share of aging rigs with 23 of the fleet being older than 30 years, of which 15 of these rigs are not currently operating, either as being warm-stacked, cold-stacked or in the yard. The bulk of the cold-stacked fleet will need to undergo significant investments in order to be mobilized, including SPS surveys and reactivation costs. Many of these rigs are likely to be phased out as the investment costs of retaining control of these assets, including the reactivation costs increase over time, hence making a return of rigs less economic viable. Of the North Sea units, 40 units are compliant with NCS operations, of which 6 are under construction/on stand-by and 8 of the units are older than 30 years.
Overview of the NCS compliant rigs in the North Sea market
Source: Fearnley Securities
On the next page, a comprehensive list of rigs with the ability to work in the North Sea is included, with details on the rig specifications, age, managers and status.
| # | RIG NAME | MANAGER | RIG TYPE | WATER DEPTH |
YEAR IN SERVICE |
RIG STATUS |
CONTRACT STATUS |
BUILD COUNTRY |
NEXT SPS1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCS compliant | |||||||||
| 1 | Bideford Dolphin | Dolphin Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,750 | 1975 | Warm stacked |
Not Contracted | Norway | 2020 |
| 2 | Borgland Dolphin | Dolphin drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,475 | 1977 | Warm stacked |
Not Contracted | UK | 2019 |
| 3 | Deepsea Bergen | Odfjell Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,475 | 1983 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Norway | 2023 |
| 4 | Songa Dee | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1984 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Japan | 2019 |
| 5 | Polar Pioneer | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 1985 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Japan | 2020 |
| 6 | West Alpha | North Atlantic Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,968 | 1986 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Japan | 2021 |
| 7 | Transocean Arctic | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,650 | 1986 | Yard | Future Contracted | Japan | 2019 |
| 8 | Transocean Leader | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 4,500 | 1987 | In port | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2022 |
| 9 | Scarabeo 5 | Saipem | Semisubmersible | 6,233 | 1990 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Italy | 2020 |
| 10 | West Venture | North Atlantic Drilling | Semisubmersible | 2,600 | 2000 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Japan | 2020 |
| 11 | West Navigator | North Atlantic Drilling | Drillship | 7,500 | 2000 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | Norway | 2020 |
| 12 | Leiv Eiriksson | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 7,500 | 2001 | Drilling | Current Contracted | USA | 2021 |
| 13 | Stena Don | Stena | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2001 | In port | Future Contracted | Germany | 2021 |
| 14 | West Phoenix | North Atlantic Drilling | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2008 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 15 | West Hercules | Seadrill | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2008 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 16 | Transocean Barents | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2009 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Norway | 2019 |
| 17 | West Eminence | Seadrill | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2009 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | South Korea | 2019 |
| 18 | West Aquarius | Seadrill | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2009 | Hot stacked | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2019 |
| 19 | Deepsea Atlantic | Odfjell Drilling | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2009 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2019 |
| 20 | COSLPioneer | COSL | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2010 | Warm stacked |
Future Contracted | China | 2020 |
| 21 | Transocean Spitsbergen |
Transocean | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2010 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Norway | 2020 |
| 22 | Deepsea Stavanger | Odfjell Drilling | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2010 | En route | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2020 |
| 23 | COSLInnovator | COSL | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2011 | Warm stacked |
Not Contracted | China | 2021 |
| 24 | COSLPromoter | COSL | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2012 | Drilling | Current Contracted | China | 2022 |
| 25 | Island Innovator | Island Drilling | Semisubmersible | 2,300 | 2012 | Warm | Future Contracted | China | 2022 |
| 26 | Scarabeo 8 | Company Saipem |
Semisubmersible | 9,843 | 2012 | stacked Drilling |
Current Contracted | Italy | 2022 |
| 27 | COSLProspector | COSL | Semisubmersible | 5,000 | 2014 | En route | Future Contracted | China | 2019 |
| 28 | Transocean | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2015 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2020 |
| 29 | Encourage Transocean |
Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2015 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2020 |
| 30 | Endurance Transocean Equinox |
Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2015 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2020 |
| 31 | Transocean Enabler | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2016 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2021 |
| 32 | West Mira | Seadrill | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2018 | En route | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 33 | Deepsea Nordkapp | Odfjell Drilling | Semisubmersible | 6,562 | 2019 | En route | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2024 |
| 34 | Transocean Norge | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2019 | En route | Future Contracted | Singapore | 2024 |
| 35 | West Bollsta | Seadrill | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2019 | Standby | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2024 |
| 36 | North Dragon | North Sea Rigs | Semisubmersible | 1,650 | 2020 | Standby | Not Contracted | China | 2024 |
| 37 | Beacon Atlantic | North Sea Rigs | Semisubmersible | 1,650 | 2020 | Under | Future Contracted | China | 2024 |
| construction Under |
|||||||||
| 38 | Beacon Pacific | North Sea Rigs | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 2020 | construction Under |
Not Contracted | China | 2024 |
| 39 | Awilco Semi Tbn1 | Awilco Drilling | Semisubmersible | 4,921 | 2021 | construction | Not Contracted | Singapore | 2026 |
| 40 | Awilco Semi Tbn2 | Awilco Drilling | Semisubmersible | 4,921 | 2022 | On order | Not Contracted | Singapore | 2027 |
1 Next SPS refers to the date of the next Special Periodic Survey («SPS»), corresponding to the five yearly mandatory classification schedule where the rigs must undergo necessary maintenance and upgrade requirements to comply with the industry's standards.
| # | RIG NAME | MANAGER | RIG TYPE | WATER DEPTH |
YEAR IN SERVICE |
RIG STATUS |
CONTRACT STATUS |
BUILD COUNTRY |
NEXT SPS2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non NCS compliant | |||||||||
| 1 | Blackford Dolphin | Dolphin Drilling | Semisubmersible | 6,000 | 1974 | Warm stacked |
Future Contracted | Norway | 2019 |
| 2 | Byford Dolphin | Dolphin Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1974 | Warm stacked |
Not Contracted | Norway | 2019 |
| 3 | Ocean Endeavor | Diamond Offshore | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 1975 | Yard | Future Contracted | Australia | 2020 |
| 4 | MSS1 | Borr Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1979 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Spain | 2019 |
| 5 | Sedco 711 | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,000 | 1982 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | South Korea | 2022 |
| 6 | WilPhoenix | Awilco Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,200 | 1982 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Sweden | 2021 |
| 7 | Ocean Patriot | Diamond Offshore | Semisubmersible | 1,640 | 1983 | Drilling | Current Contracted | France | 2023 |
| 8 | Sedco 714 | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,000 | 1983 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 9 | Stena Spey | Stena | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1983 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 10 | Transocean 712 | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,600 | 1983 | Yard | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 11 | WilHunter | Awilco Drilling | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1983 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 12 | Henry Goodrich | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 5,000 | 1985 | Drilling | Current Contracted | Japan | 2020 |
| 13 | Ocean Guardian | Diamond Offshore | Semisubmersible | 1,500 | 1985 | Cold stacked | Not Contracted | UK | 2019 |
| 14 | Paul B. Loyd, Jr. | Transocean | Semisubmersible | 1,969 | 1987 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2022 |
| 15 | Ocean Valiant | Diamond Offshore | Semisubmersible | 5,500 | 1988 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2023 |
| 16 | Stena IceMAX | Stena | Drillship | 7,500 | 2012 | Yard | Future Contracted | South Korea | 2022 |
| 17 | Deepsea Aberdeen | Odfjell Drilling | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2014 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2019 |
| 40 | Ocean GreatWhite | Diamond Offshore | Semisubmersible | 10,000 | 2016 | Drilling | Current Contracted | South Korea | 2021 |
Source: Fearnley Securities
The downturn in the global market for offshore E&P activity and contract drilling has had an adverse effect on dayrates and rig utilization. This downturn has also affected the North Sea harsh environment segment, with dayrates dropping dramatically from 2014 to 2016. More so, the number of cold stacked rigs not available for drilling activity before significant reactivation investments have been undone, has impacted the condition of the general HE fleet. However, the market conditions have gradually improved during the recent times, largely driven by a positive E&P sentiment on the back of the surging oil price.
The current environment is characterized by low utilization levels for HE North Sea rigs, albeit the utilization rates for premium HE units picked up during 2017 and has remained at a >80% level since then. The combination of an aging fleet coupled with bifurcation in dayrates between older and newer units have resulted in increasing dayrates for the most premium vessels, that benefits from being "first in, last out" in the market. As the number of projects sanctioned at current oil price levels will increase towards 2020, there are clear indications of an improving market for premium, HE rigs compliant with operations on NCS as well as on UKCS. An aging fleet with significant reactivation capex requirement further underpins this trend, as the number of available rigs in the market is expected to lower at current dayrate levels.
Onwards, the picture looks somewhat brighter. A reduction of the available fleet should lead to higher utilization for operating vessels, in which historically have resulted in improving dayrates. The figure below illustrates how the historical rig utilization of the North Sea rig fleet has dictated dayrate levels.
2 Next SPS refers to the date of the next Special Periodic Survey («SPS»), corresponding to the five yearly mandatory classification schedule where the rigs must undergo necessary maintenance and upgrade requirements to comply with the industry's standards.
Source: Fearnley securities
Awilco Drilling is a public limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, and registered with the Companies House under the registration number 07114196. The Company was incorporated on 30 December 2009.
The Company was listed on Oslo Axess on 10 June 2011 and was transferred to listing on Oslo Børs on 4 September 2018. The Company is listed under the ticker code "AWDR".
The Company's principal business is to own offshore drilling rigs for use in offshore drilling operations, and to provide drilling services for oil and gas companies using these rigs. The Company owns and operates two semi-submersible drilling rigs; WilPhoenix and WilHunter. Both rigs are typical "workhorse" rigs used for drilling of oil and gas wells in the UK sector of the North Sea, although they can also be used in other geographical locations.
On 9 March 2018 the Company entered into a newbuilding contract for the building of a new semi-submersible drilling rig which will be equipped and certified for drilling on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including the Barents Sea. The drilling rig is expected to be delivered in March 2021. Furthermore, in connection with entering into the newbuilding contract, the Company negotiated options to build up to three additional drilling rigs of similar design, with each option being independent of each other.
On 8 March 2019, the Company exercised the first option for the building of a new semisubmersible drilling rig. The drilling rig is designed for harsh environment use and will also be equipped and certified for drilling on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including the Barents Sea. The drilling rig is expected to be delivered in March 2022.
As of the date of this Prospectus, two of the options remain, such options being independent of each other. The two remaining options lapses in March 2020 (subject to possible 4-6 months' extension) and March 2021, respectively.
Awilco Drilling is the holding company of the Group and the ultimate sole shareholder in the subsidiary companies. The Company owns 100% of WilPhoenix (UK) Limited and WilHunter (UK) Limited. The business of WilHunter (UK) Limited was transferred to WilPhoenix (UK) Limited effective 30 November 2018 and WilHunter (UK) Limited will be wound down in due course. The Maltese companies previously owned within the group structure comprised WilPhoenix (Malta) Limited (liquidated) and WilHunter (Malta) Limited (in liquidation).
WilPhoenix (UK) Limited is the rig owning and operating company for the two rigs WilPhoenix and WilHunter.
In addition, the Company owns 100% of Awilco Drilling Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based company which provides drilling services to the UK operating company and the new companies, Awilco Rig 1 Pte Ltd, Awilco Rig 2 Pte Ltd, Awilco Rig 3 Pte Ltd and Awilco Rig 4 Pte Ltd, also based in Singapore. Awilco Rig 1 Pte Ltd and Awilco Rig 2 Pte Ltd have entered into a contract with Keppel FELS for the construction of one each new semisubmersible drilling rigs due for completion in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Each of the other companies has an option agreement for delivery one rig each of up to two additional rigs in total.
The following chart shows the corporate structure of the Group as of the date of this Prospectus:
In May 2019, the Company established a Norwegian private limited company, Awilco Drilling Norge AS, which forms part of the Group and is wholly owned by Awilco Drilling Plc. The purpose of establishing and incorporating the Norwegian company into the Group is that the Company is planning to enter into operations in other parts of the North Sea upon delivery of the ordered newbuild rigs. The ordered rigs are compliant with operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Please see further information in Section 5.1.2 and 6.4.3.
Awilco Drilling was established by Awilco AS, a company in the Awilhelmsen Group which has fostered several companies previously listed on Oslo Børs.
Awilco Drilling was incorporated on 30 December 2009 for the purpose of acquiring the two semi-submersible drilling rigs GSF Arctic II (renamed WilPhoenix) and GSF Arctic IV (renamed WilHunter) from subsidiaries of Transocean Ltd. The background for Transocean's sale of the rigs relates to the merger of Transocean and GlobalSantaFe in 2007, in which the combined company was deemed by the UK Office of Fair Trading to have a too large market share in the UK drilling market. Consequently, Transocean was required to sell off two rigs.
The Company acquired the drilling rigs in January 2010 at an aggregate price of USD 205 million which was financed by seller's credit of USD 165 million, a working capital loan of USD 35 million and equity of USD 50 million. The equity was raised through a private placement in January 2010, after which the Company's shares were traded on the Norwegian OTC market. At the time of the acquisition, WilPhoenix had been idle since 2008, while WilHunter was operative. WilHunter continued to be employed on a bareboat contract to Transocean until mid-November 2010.
As part of the effort to bring WilPhoenix back into operation and become an attractive unit in the market, the rig needed significant upgrading. WilHunter did not require any similar upgrading but was due for classification renewal in May 2011. As a consequence, the rigs were brought to the Remontowa yard in Poland in April 2010 and November 2010, respectively. In December 2010, an accommodation upgrade was added to the WilHunter project scope. The yard stays for both rigs were financed by a private placement raising USD 65 million in October 2010 through the issuance of 16 million shares at an issuance price of NOK 24 per share. A shareholder loan of USD 10 million was also put in place in March 2011. Both rigs were redelivered from the yard in May 2011. WilPhoenix commenced operations on 27 June 2011 and WilHunter on 1 July 2011. Both rigs operated throughout the remainder of 2011.
The development of onshore support facilities and resources were completed early 2011 and recruitment of offshore personnel was completed in the second quarter of 2011 prior to commencement of operator contracts.
The Company was listed on Oslo Axess on 10 June 2011. In connection with the listing, the Company conducted a private placement raising USD 17.5 million through the issuance of 3,031,500 shares at an issue price of NOK 31 per share.
A contract for WilPhoenix commenced on 1 March 2012 with Hess Ltd. for a period of approximately 200 days. WilPhoenix also had a contract with Premier Oil UK Ltd for a 60 day program plus two 30 day options, and then operated in a term drilling program until 28 February 2014. WilHunter was awarded several contracts for a drilling program until January 2013 which consisted of performing work for MPX North Sea Ltd, Ithaca Energy UK Ltd, Endeavour Energy UK Ltd and Suncor Energy UK Ltd. WilHunter incurred downtime whilst drilling for MPX Energy Ltd on 18 January 2012 and the rig recommenced operations on 21 March 2012.
During 2014, both rigs were contracted. WilPhoenix was in continued operations on Maersk Oil North Sea UK's Maclure well location before moving back to Premier Oil UK's Solan location in late March where it remained until September 2014. From September 2014, WilPhoenix was in operation for Marathon Oil UK Ltd until the end of 2014. WilHunter was in continuing operations for Hess UK Ltd for the whole year.
On 31 March 2014, the Company completed a USD 125 million secured bond loan with maturity in April 2019. The bond was listed on Oslo Børs on 2 July 2014. On 14 May 2018, the Company exercised the call option on the bond at a rate of 101.50% of par value in accordance with the bond agreement. The bond was settled on 28 June 2018 with USD 85 million plus accrued interest from existing cash resources of the Company.
During 2015, both rigs were contracted. WilPhoenix was in continued operations for Marathon Oil UK Ltd until the end of the first quarter and thereafter in operations for Apache North Sea Ltd until 17 November 2015 when the rig proceeded to the Able Shipyard in Hartlepool to commence a renewal survey. WilHunter was in continued operations for Hess UK Ltd until the second quarter of 2015, and then put on standby rate in the third quarter until early release from contract on 20 July 2015. WilHunter remained warm stacked during the fourth quarter of 2015.
During 2016, WilPhoenix completed the renewal survey in the first quarter and then recommenced drilling operations for Apache North Sea Ltd at the Storr location before moving over to Taqa Bratani Ltd in December 2016 for operations at the Sturgeon location. WilHunter remained warm stacked throughout the third quarter of 2016 and then put on cold stack in Invergordon in Scotland.
During 2017, WilPhoenix was in continuing operations for Taqa Bratani Ltd and then for Apache North Sea Ltd. WilHunter was cold stacked during 2017.
On 14 February 2018, the Company announced that it had entered into a Letter of Intent for the provision of WilPhoenix with expected commencement of the program around 1 September 2018 with an estimated duration of 450 days. On 18 May 2018, it was confirmed that a contract has been signed with Shell UK Limited for the provision of WilPhoenix for a decommissioning program of 19 firm wells plus options totalling a further 7 wells. The firm 19 well program has an estimated duration of 380 days and commenced around 1 September 2018.
On 28 February 2018, the Company completed a private placement raising USD 65 million through the subscription of 17,600,000 shares at a subscription price of NOK 29 per share.
On 9 March 2018, the Company's fully owned subsidiary Awilco Rig 1 Pte. Ltd. signed a contract with Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore for the building of a new semisubmersible drilling rig, with planned delivery in March 2021 at an approximate cost of USD 425 million. In connection with entering into the contract, the Company also negotiated options to build up to three additional rigs of similar design.
On 18 June 2018, the Company completed a subsequent offering to the private placement raising gross proceeds of USD 4.7 million through the subscription of 1,400,000 shares at a subscription price of NOK 27.35 per share. The subscription price in the subsequent offering was equal to the subscription price in the Private Placement adjusted for the dividend distribution in the Company on 22 June 2018 of USD 0.20 per share, equivalent to NOK 1.6496, with record date 22 May 2018.
On 9 September 2018, the shares in the Company were transferred from Oslo Axess to Oslo Børs.
On 8 March 2019, the Company's fully owned subsidiary Awilco Rig 2 Pte. Ltd. declared its option with Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore for the building of one new CS60 ECO MW semi-submersible drilling rig, similar to the rig contracted by Awilco Rig 1 Pte. Ltd. in March 2018. For further information about the new drilling rigs, see Section 6.4.3 below.
On 11 March 2019, the Company completed a private placement raising approximately USD 20 million through the subscription of 5,550,000 shares at a subscription price of NOK 31.80. The shares were issued on 14 March 2019.
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company owns two semi-submersible drilling rigs; WilPhoenix and WilHunter. Both rigs are typical "workhorse" rigs used for drilling of oil and gas wells in the UK sector of the North Sea, although they can also be used in other geographical locations.
The main particulars of the rigs are set forth in the table below:
| WilPhoenix | WilHunter | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Semi-submersible | Semi-submersible |
| Design | Friede & Goldman L-907 Enhanced Pacesetter |
Friede & Goldman L-907 Enhanced Pacesetter |
| Generation | rd 3 |
rd 3 |
| Flag | Vanuatu | Vanuatu |
| Built | 1982 | 1983 |
| Yard | Gotaverken Arendal – Sweden, upgraded 2011 |
Daewoo – Korea, upgraded 1999 and 2011 |
| Water depth | 1,250 ft | 1,500 ft |
| Drilling depth | 25,000 ft | 25,000 ft |
| Accommodation | 110 | 110 |
|---|---|---|
| Variable loads | 3,700 mt | 3,645 mt |
| Draw works | National 1625 UDBE 3000 hp | National-Oilwell 1625 DE |
| Mud pumps | 2 Ideco T-1600 1600 hp 1 National Oilwell 12-P-160., 1,600 hp |
2 National-Oilwell 12-P-160 1600 hp 1 Continental Emsco FB1600, 1,600 hp |
| Power | 4 Nohab F 312 v ea. 2,650 hp | 4 Ruston 12 cyl diesel ea. 3,320 hp |
| Cranes | 3 Liebherr cranes, 2 x 120 ft booms, 1 x 80 ft boom |
3 National OS345 cranes 2 x 140 ft booms, 1 x 80 ft boom |
| Derrick | Dreco 195 ft x 40 ft | DSI 175 ft. x 40 ft |
| Blow-out preventer |
1 x 18¾" 15,000psi Vetco H4 E x F Wellhead connector, 1 x Shaffer 15K Triple NXT ram preventer, 1 x Shaffer 15K NXT double ram preventer,1 x 18¾" 10,000 psi Shaffer annular preventer LMRP: 1 x 18¾" 15,000 psi VETCO HAR connector, 1 x 18¾" 10000 psi Shaffer annular preventer |
1 x 18¾" 15,000psi Vetco H4 E x F Wellhead connector, 1 x Shaffer 15K Triple NXT ram preventer, 1 x Shaffer 15K NXT double ram preventer,1 x 18¾" 10,000 psi Shaffer annular preventer LMRP: 1 x 18¾" 15,000 psi VETCO HAR connector, 1 x 18¾" 10000 psi Shaffer annular preventer (PLANNED UPGRADE) |
| Mooring system | 4 double winches Norwinch / 2A-76-2 Elhydraulic and 8 Stevris MK 6, 12 mt |
4 Skagit WMD-48 and 8 anchor chains |
The Company's existing UK-based rigs operate in a market which utilises time charter contacts, secured in USD. These contacts can be fixed term (potentially with option periods) or estimated term (based on well activity). These contracts can vary greatly in terms of termination provision, liability, penalties, incentives and miscellaneous commercial provisions. The contracts do, however, generally follow an industry templet known as CRINE/Logic. The UK rig market is often described as a "spot market", generally operating shorter term contracts than the neighbouring Norwegian rig market. The UK market has historically comprised of both year-on-year contracts, and summer only ("seasonal") contracts used by customers who favour better weather periods for their respective drilling campaigns.
The Company's new Norwegian-based rigs will operate in a market which also utilises time charter contracts, secured in USD. Long and Medium Term contracts are prevalent in Norway, although there is a limited amount of spot market activity also.
As stated above in Section 6.3, the Company has signed a contract with Shell UK Limited for the provision of WilPhoenix for a decommissioning program. In addition to the initial firm program of 18 wells, a further six option wells have been exercised and work is expected to continue until at least December 2019. Options remain under the contract for five further wells.
The UK Safety Cases for WilHunter and the WilPhoenix have been accepted by the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The Company's existing rigs are typically suited to work on the UK sector of the North Sea and other international mid-water markets with the exception of Norway. The UK rig market has a wide range of customers from small independent to Super Majors, contracting rigs for infill, development and exploration drilling as well as well-decommissioning.
The Company is planning to enter into operations in other parts of the North Sea upon delivery of the ordered newbuild rigs, as further described below in Section 6.4.3, as the Company's new rigs will be specifically designed to operate on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), including the Barents Sea. The Norwegian rig market has a smaller number of customers and is dominated by Equinor ASA. All forms of rig activity are undertaken in Norway, as per the UK, although there is a higher level of exploration in this region.
Since the Company's new rigs are specifically designed to operate on the NCS, and the Company will consequently focus on the Norwegian rig market and operations on the NCS going forward, Section 5 "Industry and Market" above provides a detailed description of the NCS.
Throughout first quarter of 2018 and until 25 April 2018, WilPhoenix was in continued operations. Since 1 September 2018, WilPhoenix has been on charter, and will remain on charter until mid-September 2019, with following options until March 2020. WilHunter is currently cold stacked and moored in Invergordon in Scotland.
WilPhoenix and WilHunter have been through substantial upgrading and class work since its building years. WilPhoenix was upgraded in 2011 and 2016, and WilHunter was upgraded in 1999 and 2011.
WilPhoenix has gone through a special periodic survey and extensive upgrading programme which delivered the following main enhancements to the rig:
The initial work scope for the upgrading of WilHunter comprised of two main areas of work relating to:
Subsequent to the commencement of project activity, the Company expanded the rig's work scope to include a programme of upgrade and enhancement work, delivering the following main enhancements to the rig:
The upgrades of both rigs were conducted at the Remontowa Shipyard in Poland. Remontowa is a large repair and maintenance yard which has done several large rig conversions and specializes in ship repairs and conversions, design and construction of new ships, offshore units and steel structures.
On 9 March 2018, the Company entered into a contract with Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore for the building of a new semi-submersible drilling rig. The cost for the rig is approximately USD 425 million and the rig is expected to be delivered in March 2021. The payment terms for the rig are 10% deposit upon contract signature, which was paid in March 2018, 10% after 24 months and 80% upon delivery of the rig. The 10% deposit was financed through the private placement completed on 28 February 2018, and it is likely that the second instalment and the payment of the remaining 80% balance will be financed through additional equity or through a combination of additional equity and debt.
In connection with entering into the newbuilding contract for the rig, the Company also negotiated options to build up to three additional rigs of similar design, in which each option will be independent of each other.
On 8 March 2019, the Company's fully owned subsidiary Awilco Rig 2 Pte. Ltd. exercised one of the options with Keppel FELS shipyard for the building of one new semi-submersible drilling rig. The cost for the rig is USD 422 million and the rig is expected to be delivered in March 2022.
Both of the new drilling rigs are designed for harsh environment use, and will be equipped and certified for drilling on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including the Barents Sea, in water depths up to 5,000 ft. The new rigs will be CS60 ECO MW semi-submersible drilling rigs, which will be the most environmental friendly drilling rigs offered to date in the harsh environment market. In addition, the rigs will be delivered with the latest design and technology solutions for drilling rigs, including digitalisation ensuring high operating efficiency and very low opex and spread cost compared to other drilling rigs on the market. All warranties will be intact at the delivery of the rigs to the Company.
The Company will use the proceeds from the Private Placement to part finance the initial 10% deposit for the building of the drilling rig announced on 8 March 2019. The payment terms for the rig are 10% deposit upon contract signature, which was paid in March 2019, 10% after 24 months and 80% upon delivery of the rig. The 10% deposit was financed through the Private Placement and cash, and it is likely that the second instalment and the payment of the remaining 80% balance will be financed through additional equity or through a combination of additional equity and debt.
Please see Section 14 for further information about the Private Placement.
Except for the newbuilding contracts with Keppel FELS, the Company has not made any principal investments during the period covered by the historical financial information and up to the date of this Prospectus. Furthermore, as of the date of this Prospectus, the Company has not made any firm commitments related to principal future investments, except for the newbuilding contracts described above. For further information about the two remaining options to build up to two additional rigs of similar design as the rigs described above, please see Section 6.1 above.
The semi-submersible drilling rig market consists of a large number of players. Contracts are traditionally awarded on a competitive bid basis. Governing factors for a successful bid are in most cases based on; price, availability, technical compliance and operators experience and track record.
Competition for contracts is on a worldwide basis; however, the competition may vary significantly from region to region at any particular time. Competing contractors may be able to relocate rigs from areas with low utilisation and day rates to areas with greater activity and relatively higher day rates. Orders of new rigs, upgrades of existing rigs and new technology could also increase the competitive universe.
A more detailed description of the Company's principal markets is given in Section 5 "Industry and Market". Due to the Company's concentration of business activity, the Company has not prepared and presented any isolated breakdown of total revenues by category of activity and geographic market information.
The Company's strategy is to create shareholder value through the provision of a quality, reliable and customer focused service to the mobile drilling rig market. The Company shall safely, efficiently and effectively deliver a mobile drilling rig service to its customers and shall strive to secure the most profitable dayrate contracts in conjunction with the highest achievable rig utilisations. In addition, the Company shall evaluate growth opportunities which best compliment the company's financial and operational aspirations.
Except for the newbuilding contracts described in Section 6.4.3 above, neither the Group nor any member of the Group has entered into any material contracts outside the ordinary course of the business for the two years prior to the date of this Prospectus. Further, the Group has not entered into any contract outside the ordinary course of business which contains any provision under which any member of the Group has any obligation or entitlement.
The Company has not entered into any transactions or agreements of significance with related parties outside of the ordinary course of business during 2018, 2017 and 2016, and up to the date of this Prospectus.
The Company has entered into a management agreement with Awilhelmsen Management AS for corporate services and several management-for-hire contracts for personnel from the Awilhelmsen Group. As stated in Section 11.4, Awilhelmsen Offshore AS owns 37.08% of the Company's shares.
Sales and purchases between related parties are made at normal market prices. Outstanding balances are unsecured, interest free and cash settlement terms vary between 30 and 90 days. The Company has not provided or benefitted from any guarantees for any related party receivables or payables. The Company has not made any provision for doubtful debts relating to amounts owed by related parties.
The Company's principal focus and expertise is to provide drilling services, and to date particularly on the UK continental shelf. Operation in this market is characterised by relatively short contracts, although longer contracts may also be available from time to time. With short contracts, the Company's revenues are influenced by rates that can fluctuate on the basis of changing supply and demand for drilling services. An overview of factors that are deemed to impact the market for the Company's services is given in Section 5 "Industry and Market".
As stated above in Section 6.4.1, the Company is planning to enter into operations in other parts of the North Sea in the near future as the Company's new rigs will be specifically designed to operate on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), including the Barents Sea.
Except as described in this Prospectus, the Company has not experienced any changes or trends that are significant to the Company since 31 March 2019, and as of the date of this Prospectus. Furthermore, the Company is not aware of any trends, demands, commitments or events that are reasonably likely to have a material effect on the Company's prospectus for at least the current financial year.
As of 31 December 2018, the Company had non-current assets with an aggregated book value of USD 186.2 million. The table below gives an overview of key non-current assets in the Company.
| Equipment | Ownership | Book Value (MUSD) |
|---|---|---|
| Rigs and related equipment | Owned | 186.3 |
| Other fixtures and equipment | Owned | 0.5 |
| Total book value | 186.8 |
Rigs and related equipment primarily comprise WilHunter and WilPhoenix, along with related reserve equipment. Also included is USD 44.4 million in respect of the deposit for the first new build rig and miscellaneous project expense. The USD 0.5 million recognised in the balance sheet as other fixtures and equipment is related to lease hold improvements, office furniture and computer equipment.
The only office premises of the Company, located in Aberdeen, Scotland, have been leased for a fifteen-year period from September 2014. The Company can terminate the lease agreement with six months' notice after an initial ten-year term. Total annual leasing cost related to the office is USD 250,248.
The Company is in process of building two new semi-submersible drilling rigs for harsh environment use, to be built by the premium yard Keppel FELS in Singapore at an aggregate price of approximately USD 425 million per rig, and with planned delivery in 2021 and 2022, respectively. See Section 6.4.3 "Newbuilding contracts" for a further description of the investments.
Except from the above-mentioned, the Company has no planned material tangible fixed asset investments.
Environmental issues that may affect the utilization of the Company's assets are discussed in Section 2.2.6 "Environmental risks", and Section 6.12 "Health, safety, environmental and quality policy".
In the opinion of the Company, its business is not materially dependent on any research and development, nor on particular patents or licenses, industrial, commercial or financial contracts, or on new manufacturing processes. The Company does not involve in research and development activities and has not made investments into such activities in the past. The Company has not introduced any new products and/or services within the period covered by the historical financial information, and is not preparing any such new products or services.
Awilco Drilling is committed to maintaining a "best in class" Quality, Health, Safety and Environment ("QHSE") Management System, forming an integral part of its corporate strategy. Further, Awilco Drilling's active employee involvement culture shall deliver the highest levels of both employee and customer satisfaction.
Awilco Drilling's primary goal is safe and efficient operation, with no accidents, injuries, environmental incidents or damages to assets. This goal shall be achieved by making the following commitments:
The Company's Senior Management will review and update the QHSE policy on an annual basis.
The Company is not, and has not been since its incorporation, party to, or the subject to, any legal or arbitration proceedings which may have, or have had, significant effects on the Company's and/or the Group's financial position or profitability. The Company is further not aware of any such legal or arbitration proceedings being threatened.
The information presented below should be read in conjunction with the other parts of this Prospectus, in particular Section 8 "Selected Financial Information", the Audited Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements, and the notes related thereto, incorporated by reference to this Prospectus; see Section 15.1 "Incorporated by reference".
There has been no material change to the Group's unaudited consolidated capitalisation and net financial indebtedness since 31 March 2019.
The below tables have been derived from the Company's condensed interim financial statements for the three months period ended 31 March 2019.
| As of 31 March 2019 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| In USD thousand | (unaudited) | ||
| Indebtedness | |||
| Total current debt: | |||
| Secured | - | ||
| Unsecured | - | ||
| Total current debt | - | ||
| Total non-current debt: | |||
| Secured | - | ||
| Unsecured | - | ||
| Total non-current debt | - | ||
| Total indebtedness | - | ||
| Shareholders' equity | |||
| Share capital | 525 | ||
| Other restricted equity | 218,380 | ||
| Translation differences and other reserved | |||
| Retained earnings | 60,319 | ||
| Total shareholders' equity | 279,224 | ||
| Total capitalisation | 279,224 | ||
The below tables have been derived from the Company's condensed interim financial statements for the three months period ended 31 March 2019.
| As of 31 March 2019 |
||
|---|---|---|
| In USD thousand | (unaudited) | |
| A. | Cash | 42,900 |
| B. | Cash equivalents | |
| C. | Trading securities | |
| D. | Liquidity (A+B+C) | 42,900 |
| E. | Current financial receivables | 10,399 |
| F. | Current bank debt | - |
| As of 31 March 2019 |
||
|---|---|---|
| In USD thousand | (unaudited) | |
| G. | Current portion of non-current debt | - |
| H. | Other current financial debt | - |
| I. | Current financial debt (F+G+H) | - |
| J. | Net current financial indebtedness (I-E-D) | (53,299) |
| K. | Non-current bank loans | - |
| L. | Bond issues | - |
| M. | Other non-current loans | - |
| N. | Non-current financial debt (K+L+M) | - |
| O. | Net financial indebtedness (J+N) | (53,299) |
The Company is of the opinion that the working capital available to the Group is sufficient for the Group's present requirements, for the period covering at least 12 months from the date of this Prospectus.
As of the date of the Prospectus, the Group has not any contingent or indirect indebtedness.
The following selected financial information has been extracted from the Company's Audited Financial Statements and Interim Financial Statements.
The Audited Financial Statements as of, and for the years ended, 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016, have been prepared in accordance with IFRS. The unaudited Interim Financial Statements as of 31 March 2019 and 31 March 2018 have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34. The selected financial information included herein should be read in connection with, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Audited Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements incorporated by reference in this Prospectus, see Section 15.1 "Incorporation by reference".
The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and entities controlled by the Company. Control is achieved where the Company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. The financial statements of the subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting period as the company, using consistent accounting policies.
Items included in the Audited Financial Statements of each of the Group's entities are measured using United States Dollars (USD) "the functional currency". The consolidated financial statements are presented in (USD) and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand dollars (USD000) except when otherwise indicated, which is the Company's functional currency and presentation currency. All subsidiaries have USD as their functional currency.
Foreign currency transactions are translated into the functional currency using the exchange rates prevailing at the date of the transactions. Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of such transactions and from the translation at period end exchange rates of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are recognized in the income statement. The principle foreign currencies used by the group are pounds sterling (GBP), euro (EUR) and Norwegian krone (NOK).
Revenue derived from charter-hire contracts or other service contracts is recognized in the period that services are rendered at rates established in the relevant contracts.
Cost of sales includes rig operating costs and the depreciation cost for the two rigs.
Current tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to the taxation authorities, based on tax rates and laws that are enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date.
Deferred income tax is recognised on all temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the financial statements, with the following exception: deferred income tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which the deductible temporary differences, carried forward tax credits or tax losses can be utilised.
Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply when the related asset is realised or liability is settled, based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.
Income tax is charged or credited directly to equity if it relates to items that are credited or charged to equity. Otherwise income tax is recognised in the income statement.
Basic earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing net profit for the period attributable to ordinary equity holders of the company by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.
Diluted earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing the net profit by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period plus the weighted average number of ordinary shares that would be issued on conversion of all the dilutive potential ordinary shares into ordinary shares.
Leases, where the lessor retains a significant portion of the risks and benefits of ownership of the asset are classified as operating leases and rentals payable are charged in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Rigs and equipment are stated at cost less depreciation. The cost of an asset comprises its purchase price and directly attributable cost of bringing the asset to its working condition. When it can be clearly demonstrated that subsequent expenditures have resulted in an increase in future economic benefits expected to be obtained from the use of the assets beyond its originally assessed standard of performance, the expenditure is capitalized as an additional cost of the asset. A component of an asset with a cost that is significant in relation to the total cost of the asset is depreciated separately. Components with a similar depreciation method and useful life are grouped together.
Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method for each asset, after taking into account the estimated residual value, over its expected useful lives.
Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over the expected useful lives of the assets as follows:
The carrying values of plant and equipment are reviewed for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable, and are written down immediately to their recoverable amount. Useful lives and residual values are reviewed annually and where adjustments are required these are made prospectively.
An item of property, plant and equipment is derecognised upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected to arise from the continued use of the asset. Any gain or loss arising on the derecognition of the asset is included in the income statement in the period of derecognition.
Financials assets are recognised when the Company becomes party to the contracts that give rise to them and are classified as financial assets at fair value through profit or loss or loans and receivables, as appropriate. The Company determines the classification of its financial assets at initial recognition and, where allowed and appropriate, re-evaluates this designation at each financial year-end. When financial assets are recognised initially, they are measured at fair value, being the transaction price plus, in the case of financial asset not at fair value through profit or loss, directly attributable transaction costs.
A financial asset (or, where applicable a part of a financial asset or part of a group of similar financial assets) is derecognised when:
The Company has neither transferred nor retained substantially all the risks and rewards of the asset, but had transferred control of the asset.
When the Company has transferred its rights to receive cash flows from an asset or has entered into a pass-through arrangement, and has neither transferred nor retained substantially all the risks and rewards of the asset nor transferred control of the asset, the asset is recognised to the extent of the Company's continuing involvement in the asset. In that case, the Company also recognises an associated liability. The transferred asset and the associated liability are measured on a basis that reflects the rights and obligations that the Company has retained.
The Company assesses at each balance sheet date whether a financial asset or group of financial assets is impaired. In relation to trade receivables, a provision for impairment is made when there is objective evidence (such as the probability of insolvency or significant financial difficulties of the debtor) that the Company will not be able to collect all of the amounts due under the original terms of the invoice. The carrying amount of the receivable is reduced through use of an allowance account. Impaired debts are derecognised when they are assessed as irrecoverable.
Inventories of drilling equipment for future integrated drilling service wells are stated at the lower of cost incurred and net realisable value. These inventory items include spare parts and supplies relating to the operation of the semi-submersible drilling rigs.
Trade receivables, which generally have 30 day terms, are recognised and carried at the lower of their original invoiced value and recoverable amount. Where the time value of money is material, receivables are carried at amortised cost.
Cash and short-term deposits in the balance sheet comprise cash at bank and in hand and short-term deposits with an original maturity of three months or less. For the purpose of the cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents are as defined above and net of outstanding bank overdrafts.
Trade payables are recognised initially at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Loans are initially recognised at cost, being the fair value of the consideration received net of issue costs associated with the borrowing. Loans are subsequently measured at their amortised cost applying the effective interest rate method.
Finance charges on the loans are recognised as finance costs in the income statement.
A financial liability is derecognised when the obligation under the liability is discharged or cancelled or expires. Where an existing financial liability is replaced by another from the same lender on substantially different terms, or the terms of an existing liability are substantially modified, such an exchange or modification is treated as a derecognition of the original liability and the recognition of a new liability, and the difference in the respective carrying amounts is recognised in the income statement.
The Group uses derivative financial instruments such as forward currency contracts, to hedge its foreign currency risks. The derivative financial instruments are initially recognised at fair value on the date on which the derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured at fair value. Derivatives are carried as financial assets when the fair value is positive and as financial liabilities when the fair value is negative.
For information regarding accounting policies and the use of estimates and judgements, please refer to the accounting principles section of the Audited Financial Statements incorporated by reference in this Prospectus, see Section 15.1.
For the Audited Financial Statements as of, and for the year ended, 31 December 2018, the Group has applied IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers for the first time. The Group has evaluated the impact of IFRS 15 and has concluded this will not result in significant change in revenue recognised compared with the current standard.
Furthermore, the following standards and amendments and interpretations to existing standards have been published and will be adopted by the Group when they become effective:
• The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting
It is not anticipated that the application of these standards and amendments will have any material impact on the Group's financial statements with the exception of IFRS 16.
IFRS 16 requires lessees to account for all leases under a single on-balance sheet model in a similar way to finance leases under IAS 17. A right-of use asset and a corresponding lease liability will be recognised for all leases by the lessee except for short-term leases and leases of low value assets. The Group has commitments under an operating lease in respect of land and buildings which will require to be recognised on the balance sheet. The Group has concluded that there will be no impact on the treatment of the drilling rigs under long term contracts.
The Group is still evaluating the impact of IFRS 16 and will finalise the assessment of the impact of adoption during 2019. As stated above, the Group plans to adopt the amendments to these standards when they become effective.
The table below sets out selected data from the Company's statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 31 December 2018 with comparable figures from 31 December 2017 and 2016 which has been extracted from the Audited Financial Statements, and the interim statement of comprehensive income for the three months ended 31 March 2019 with comparable figures from 31 March 2018 which has been extracted from the Interim Financial Statements.
| Three months | Three months | Year ended | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended | ended | 31 December | |||
| 31 March 2019 | 31 March 2018 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| In USD Thousands | |||||
| Revenue | 9,062 | 34,103 | 56,522 | 131,731 | 72,472 |
| Cost of sales | (8,906) | (10,766) | (66,031) | (88,794) | (52,492) |
| Gross profit | 156 | 23,337 | (9,509) | 42,937 | 19,980 |
| General and administrative expenses | 3,133 | 2,782 | (8,766) | (8,818) | (8,908) |
| Operating profit | (2,977) | 20,555 | (18,275) | 34,119 | 11,072 |
| Finance income | 533 | 550 | 1,943 | 792 | 631 |
| Finance expense | - | (1,642) | (4,671) | (6,919) | (7,658) |
| Foreign exchange gain/(loss) | - | - | 5 | 941 | (1,437) |
| Loss on forward contracts | 142 | 358 | (172) | (123) | (1,042) |
| Profit before taxation | (2,302) | 19,821 | (21,170) | 28,810 | 1,566 |
| Tax (expense)/benefit | (50) | (706) | (1,694) | (643) | 745 |
| Profit for year attributable to equity | |||||
| shareholders | (2,352) | 19,115 | (22,864) | 28,167 | 2,311 |
| Weighted Average number of shares | 50,091,612 | 30,813,722 | 44,221,089 | 30,031,500 | 30,031,500 |
| Basic and diluted earnings per share | (0.05) | 0.62 | (0.52) | 0.94 | 0.08 |
| Interest coverage ratio | 0 | 13.07 | (4.86) | 5.16 | 1.20 |
The table below sets out selected data from the Company's consolidated statement of financial position as of 31 December 2018 with comparable figures from 31 December 2017 and 2016 which has been extracted from the Audited Financial Statements, and the interim statement of financial position as of 31 March 2019 with comparable figures from 31 March 2018 which has been extracted from the Interim Financial Statements.
| Three months | Three months | Year ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended | ended | 31 December | ||||
| 31 March 2019 | 31 March 2018 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | ||
| In USD Thousands | ||||||
| Assets | ||||||
| Property, plant and equipment | 227,470 | 217,935 | 186,761 | 178,808 | 238,868 | |
| Deferred tax | 410 | 1,483 | 461 | 1,372 | 3,058 | |
| Total non-current assets | 227,880 | 219,418 | 187,222 | 180,180 | 241,926 | |
| Current assets | ||||||
| Inventory | 4,809 | 4,809 | 4,808 | 4,808 | 4,844 | |
| Prepayments | 4,422 | 19,076 | 11,938 | 24,073 | 24,482 | |
| Trade and other receivables | 6,317 | 73,837 | 340 | 3,551 | 22,078 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 42,900 | 92,472 | 63,865 | 119,286 | 70,070 | |
| Total current assets | 58,448 | 190,194 | 80,951 | 151,718 | 121,474 | |
| Total assets | 286,328 | 409,612 | 268,173 | 331,898 | 363,400 | |
| Current liabilities | ||||||
| Trade and other payables | 7,038 | 11,375 | 6,284 | 10,441 | 11,281 | |
| Current tax payable | 66 | - | 66 | - | 23,923 | |
| Borrowing | - | 10,000 | - | 10,000 | 10,000 | |
| Total current liabilities | 7,104 | 21,375 | 6,350 | 20,441 | 45,204 | |
| Non-current liabilities | ||||||
| Deferred tax liability | - | - | - | - | 1,129 | |
| Borrowing | - | 80,000 | - | 80,000 | 90,000 | |
| Other liabilities | - | - | 433 | 248 | - | |
| Total non-current liabilities | - | 80,000 | 433 | 80,248 | 91,129 | |
| Total liabilities | 7,104 | 101,375 | 6,783 | 100,689 | 136,333 | |
| Net assets | 279,224 | 308,237 | 261,390 | 231,209 | 227,067 | |
| Equity | ||||||
| Paid in capital | 218,905 | 194,060 | 198,719 | 130,141 | 130,141 | |
| Retained earnings | 60,319 | 114,177 | 62,671 | 101,068 | 96,926 | |
| Total equity | 279,224 | 308,237 | 261,390 | 231,209 | 227,067 | |
| Equity / Assets ratio | 98% | 75% | 97% | 70% | 62% |
The table below sets out selected data from the Company's consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 December 2018 with comparable figures from 31 December 2017 and 2016 which has been extracted from the Audited Financial Statements, and the interim statement of cash flows for the three months period ended 31 March 2019 with comparable figures from 31 March 2018 which has been extracted from the Interim Financial Statements.
| Three months ended |
Three months ended |
Year ended 31 December |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2019 | 31 March 2018 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| In USD Thousands | |||||
| Operating activities | |||||
| Profit before tax | (2,302) | 19,821 | (21,170) | 28,810 | 1,566 |
| Non-cash adjustments to reconcile profit | |||||
| before | |||||
| tax to net cash flows: | |||||
| Depreciation | 2,651 | 3,402 | 13,425 | 15,686 | 15,579 |
| Impairment | - | - | 25,000 | 45,000 | - |
| Net Interest | (533) | 1,092 | 2,728 | 6,126 | 7,027 |
| Share based payment | (303) | 663 | (260) | 301 | 32 |
| Working capital adjustments: | |||||
| Decrease/(increase) in trade and other | |||||
| receivables | 2,758 | 7,249 | 8,092 | 101 | (9,917) |
| Decrease/(increase) in inventory | - | - | - | 36 | 171 |
| Increase/ decrease in prepayments and | |||||
| accrued revenue | (1,219) | (6,268) | 4,043 | 307 | (4,532) |
| (Decrease)/ increase in trade and other | |||||
| payables | 624 | (1,552) | (3,712) | (714) | (12,302) |
| Interest paid | - | (67) | (4,671) | (7,097) | (7,798) |
| Interest received | 533 | 550 | 1,943 | 792 | 631 |
| Taxation paid | - | (3,169) | 2,494 | (5,481) | (6,013) |
| Net cash flow from operating | |||||
| activities | 2,209 | 21,721 | 27,912 | 83,867 | (15,556) |
| Investing activities | |||||
| Purchase of property, plant and equipment | (43,360) | (42,529) | (46,378) | (626) | (20,111) |
| Net cash flow used in investing | |||||
| activities | (43,360) | (42,529) | (46,378) | (626) | (20,111) |
| Financing activities | |||||
| Proceeds from issue of share capital | 20,595 | - | 69,595 | - | - |
| Equity issue costs | (409) | - | (1,017) | - | - |
| Payment of dividends | 0 | (6,006) | (15,533) | (24,025) | (19,520) |
| 0 | 0 | ||||
| Repayment of loan and bonds | (90,000) | (10,000) | (10,000) | ||
| Net cash flow used in financing activities |
20,186 | (6,006) | (36,955) | (34,025) | (29,520) |
| (20,956) | (26,814) | ||||
| Net increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at |
(55,421) | 49,216 | (65,187) | ||
| beginning of period/year | 63,865 | 119,286 | 119,286 | 70,070 | 135,257 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of | |||||
| period/year | 42,900 | 92,472 | 63,865 | 119,286 | 70,070 |
The table below sets out selected data from the Company's consolidated statement of changes in equity for the year ended 31 December 2018 with comparable figures from 31 December 2017 and 2016.
| Share | Share | Retained | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TUSD | capital | premium | earnings | Total equity |
| At 1 January 2016 | 304 | 129,837 | 114,135 | 244,276 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | - | - | 2,311 | 2,311 |
| Dividend paid | - | - | (19,520) | (19,520) |
| Balance at 31 December 2016 | 304 | 129,837 | 96,926 | 227,067 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | 28,167 | 28,167 | ||
| Dividend paid | (24,025) | (24,025) | ||
| Balance at 31 December 2017 | 304 | 129,837 | 101,068 | 231,209 |
| Equity issue as at 27 March 2018 | 161 | 64,776 | - | 64,937 |
| Equity issue costs as at 27 March 2018 | - | (1,017) | - | (1,017) |
| Equity issue as at 22 June 2018 | 12 | 4,646 | - | 4,658 |
| Total comprehensive profit for year | - | - | (22,864) | (22,864) |
| Dividend paid | - | - | (15,533) | (15,533) |
| Balance at 31 December 2018 | 477 | 198,242 | 62,671 | 261,390 |
| Equity issue 14 March 2019 | 48 | 20,547 | - | 20,595 |
| Equity issue costs 14 March 2019 | - | (409) | - | (409) |
| Total comprehensive profit as at 31 March 2019 | - | (2,352) | (2,352) | |
| Dividend paid | - | - | - | - |
| Balance as at 31 March 2019 | 525 | 218,380 | 60,319 | 279,224 |
The Company's auditor is Ernst & Young LLP, with registration number OC300001 and business address at Blenheim House, Fountainhall Road, Aberdeen, AB15 4DT, United Kingdom. Ernst & Young has been the Company's auditor since its incorporation and consequently throughout the period covered by financial information included in this Prospectus.
Ernst & Young's audit reports on the Audited Financial Statements are included within the Audited Financial Statements and incorporated by reference together with the Audited Financial Statements. Ernst & Young has not audited any other information in this Prospectus.
The financial information is prepared on a consolidated group basis.
The Company is only operating rigs in the mid-water segment. The potential market for the rigs will be the international drilling market (i.e. all over the world) and will be exposed to the same risks and returns wherever the rigs are employed. As the rigs are managed as one business segment, the Company has only one reportable segment.
The latest full audited financial information presented in this Prospectus is in respect of the year end 31 December 2018.
This operating and financial review should be read together with Section 8 "Selected financial information", the Audited Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements, and related notes incorporated by reference in this Prospectus in Section 15.1.
The operating and financial review set out in this Section 9 contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but are rather based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about the Group's industry, business and future financial results. Actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including those discussed in Section 2 "Risk Factors" and Section 4.5 "Forwardlooking statements", as well as other Sections of this Prospectus.
The discussion below refers to the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 ("Q1 2019").
The Company had gross operating revenues of USD 9.1 million in Q1 2019. This is a decrease of USD 25 million compared with the same period in the prior year. This decrease is due to the reduction in day rate revenue earned in Q1 2019 compared to the same quarter in the prior year.
The Company had cost of sales of USD 8.9 million in Q1 2019, this is a decrease of USD 1.9 million compared with the same period in the prior year, primarily due to lower rig operating expenses. There were also General and Administrative expenses of USD 3.1 million which is a slight increase of USD 1.8 million compared with the same period in the prior year primarily due to the movement in the LTIP provision.
The loss before taxation was USD 2.3 million after charging depreciation, general and administrative expenses and finance income and finance expense.
Finance income at USD 0.5 million relates to interest income and other foreign exchange gain.
The Company had no finance expenses as of 31 March 2019. Interest coverage ratio as at 31 March 2019 was 0.
Loss for the period attributable to equity shareholders was the loss before tax of USD 2.3 million less income tax of USD 0.05 million resulting in total loss of USD 2.3 million.
Trade and other receivables in Q1 2019 totalled USD 6.3 million.
Cash and cash equivalents in Q1 2019 totalled USD 42.9 million which related to cash at bank and in hand. This is a reduction of USD 49.6 million compared to Q1 2018 and is primarily due to repayments of bond debt in 2018 in the event of USD 90 million.
Included in this cash balance was restricted cash of USD 1.0 million in relation to foreign exchange forward contracts. Cash at bank earned interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates and funds on long-term deposit earning interest at commercial rates
depending on term of deposit.
Current liabilities totalled USD 7.1 million and consisted of trade and other creditors totalling USD 7.0 million. As described in Section 6.3, the Company completed a USD 125 million secured bond loan on 31 March 2014 with maturity in April 2019. The Company has no long-term interest-bearing debt and no non-current liabilities.
The equity ratio as at 31 March 2019 was 98%, compared to 75% which was the equity ratio as at 31 March 2018.
Total equity as at 31 March 2019 was USD 279.2 million. This is made up of USD 0.5 million called up capital and USD 218.4 of share premium. The balance of USD 60.3 million relates to the retained earnings.
The discussion below refers to the period from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 ("FY 2018" or "The last financial year").
The Company had gross operating revenues of USD 56.5 million in FY 2018. The decrease relative to the prior year when revenue was USD 131.7 million was attributable primarily to prior year including a full year operating for Apache North Sea Ltd compared to 2018 when the rig was operating to 25th April then incurred a period of idle time prior to commencement in September 2018 of a contract with Shell UK Ltd. Due to the deterioration in market conditions the daily revenue rate is significantly reduced under the new contract with Shell UK Ltd.
The Company had costs of sales in 2018 of USD 66.0 million including an impairment charge of USD 25 million. (Refer to Note 16 in the Annual Report for year ended 31 December 2018 for further information on impairment). Underlying cost of sales, net of impairment were USD 41.0 million compared with USD 43.8 million in prior year. Reason for decrease due to savings achieved during idle period mid-year. There were also General and Administrative expenses of USD 8.8 million which is consistent with prior year costs of USD 8.8 million.
The loss before taxation was USD 21.2 million after charging depreciation, general and administrative expenses and finance income and expense.
Finance income of USD 1.9 million relates to interest income and loss on forward contracts was USD 0.2 million.
Finance expense of USD 4.7 million comprises USD 3.4 million interest on loans and USD 1.3 million call premium on early repayment of the bond debt. Interest coverage ratio for 2018 was -4.86.
Loss for the period attributable to equity shareholders was the loss before tax of USD 21.2 million less the tax charge of USD 1.7 million resulting in a loss of USD 22.9 million.
Trade and other receivables as at 31 December 2018 was USD 11.9 million and comprises of amounts outstanding at year end in respect of accrued and billed revenue for work performed in final quarter of year.
Cash and cash equivalents as at 31 December 2018 totalled USD 63.9 million which related to cash at bank. Included in this cash balance was restricted cash of USD 1.3 million in relation to foreign exchange forward contracts. Cash at bank earned interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates and funds on long term deposit earning interest at commercial rates depending on term of deposit. Most of the cash is held in USD.
Current liabilities totalled USD 6.3 million and consisted of trade and other payables. Non-current liabilities totalled USD 0.4 million and is respect of amounts payable under the long-term incentive plan.
The equity ratio as at 31 December 2018 was 97%.
Total equity as at 31 December 2018 was 261.4 million. This is made up of USD 0.5 million called up capital and USD 198.2 million of share premium. The balance of USD 62.7 relates to the retained earnings.
9.1.3 Year to 31 December 2017
The discussion below refers to the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017 ("FY 2017").
The Company had gross operating revenues of USD 131.7 million in FY 2017. The increase relative to the prior year when revenue was USD 72.5 million was attributable primarily to prior year including an extended period in the shipyard for WilPhoenix. Utilisation of the WilHunter had been adversely affected by the industry downturn and due to no new contracts had been idle throughout current year and prior year.
The Company had cost of sales in 2017 of USD 88.8 million including an impairment charge of USD 45 million. (Refer to Note 17 in the Annual Report for year ended 31 December 2017 for further information on impairment). Underlying cost of sales, net of impairment were USD 43.8 million compared to USD 52.5 million in prior year. Reason for the decrease was due to savings associated with cold stacking of WilHunter during 2016. There were also General and Administrative expenses of USD 8.8 million.
The profit before taxation was USD 28.8 million after charging depreciation, general and administrative expenses and finance income and finance expense.
Finance income at USD 0.8 million relates to interest income and gain on foreign exchange forward contracts was USD 0.1 million. Other foreign exchange gain was USD 0.9 million.
Finance expense at USD 6.9 million relates to interest on loans. Interest coverage ratio for 2017 was 5.16.
Profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders was the profit before tax of USD 28.8 million less income tax of USD 0.6 million resulting in a profit of USD 28.2 million.
Cash and cash equivalents as at 31 December 2017 totalled USD 119.3 million which related to cash at bank and in hand.
Included in this cash balance was restricted cash of USD 1.0 million in relation to foreign exchange forward contracts. Cash at bank earned interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates and funds on long-term deposit earning interest at commercial rates depending on term of deposit. Most of the cash is held in USD.
Current liabilities totalled USD 20.4 million and consisted of trade and other creditors totalling USD 10.4 million. Loans were USD 10 million which related to the portion of the outstanding bond. As described in Section 6.3, the Company completed a USD 125 million secured bond loan on 31 March 2014 with maturity in April 2019.
Non-current liabilities totalled USD 80.2 million and consisted primarily of the outstanding bond of 80.0 million. Covenants as per the Bond Agreement required minimum liquidity of USD 10 million and an equity ratio of 35%. The equity ratio at 31 December 2017 was 69.7%.
Total equity as at 31 December 2017 was USD 231.2 million. This is made up of USD 0.3 million called up capital and USD 129.8 of share premium. The balance of USD 101.1 million relates to the retained earnings.
The discussion below refers to the period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 ("FY 2016").
The discussion below refers to the period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 ("FY 2016").
The Company had gross operating revenues of USD 72.5 million in FY 2016. The decrease relative to the prior year when revenue was USD 247 million was due to the extended period in shipyard for WilPhoenix and the reduction of revenue associated with stacking of the WilHunter.
The Company had cost of sales in 2016 of USD 52.5 million compared to USD 106.3 million in prior year. Reduction due primarily to impact of stacking the WilHunter and introduction of an increased cost efficiency focus as a result of the general industry downturn. There were also General and Administrative expenses of USD 8.9 million.
The profit before taxation was USD 1.6 million after charging depreciation, general and administrative expenses and finance income and finance expense.
Finance income at USD 0.6 million relates to interest income and loss on foreign exchange forward contracts was USD 1.0 million. Other foreign exchanges losses were USD 1.4 million.
Finance expense at USD 7.7 million related to interest on loans. Interest coverage ratio for 2016 was 1.20.
Profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders was the profit before tax of USD 1.6 million plus income tax benefit of USD 0.7 million resulting in a profit of USD 2.3 million.
Cash and cash equivalents as at 31 December 2016 totalled USD 70.1 million which related to cash at bank and in hand.
Included in this cash balance was restricted cash of USD 2.3 million in relation to foreign exchange forward contracts. Cash at bank earned interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates and funds on long-term deposit earning interest at commercial rates depending on term of deposit. Most of the cash is held in USD.
Current liabilities was a total of USD 45.2 million and consisted of trade and other creditors totalling USD 11.3 million and current tax payable of USD 23.9 million. Loans were USD 10 million which related to the portion of the outstanding bond. As described in Section 6.3, the Company completed a USD 125 million secured bond loan on 31 March 2014 with maturity in April 2019.
Non-current liabilities totalled USD 91.1 million and consisted primarily of the outstanding bond of 90.0 million. Covenants as per the Bond Agreement require minimum liquidity of USD 10 million and an equity ratio of 35%. The equity ratio at 31 December 2016 was 62.5%.
Total equity as at 31 December 2016 was USD 227.1 million. This is made up of USD 0.3 million called up capital and USD 129.8 of share premium. The balance of USD 96.9 million related to the retained earnings.
As at 31 March 2019, the Company had cash and cash equivalents amounting to USD 42.9 million. This is a decrease of USD 49.5 million compared with the same period in the prior year. As at 31 December 2018, the Company had cash and cash equivalents amounting to USD 63.9 million. This is a decrease of USD 55.4 million from prior year due primarily to repayment of the bond during the year amounting to USD 90.0 million, payment of USD 42.4 million for deposit on first new build rig offset partially by an equity issue with net proceeds of USD 68.6 million along with other working capital movements.
Please refer to Note 26 in the Annual Report for year ended 31 December 2018 for further information on the Company's capital management, financial risk management objectives and policies.
There has been no material changes in the Company's cash position and cash flow since 31 March 2019.
The Company's net cash flow from operating activities amounted to USD 2.2 million in Q1 2019, compared to USD 21.7 million in the same period in the prior year.
The Company's net cash flow from operating activities amounted to USD 27.9 million in FY2018, compared to USD 83.9 million in the same period in the prior year. The decrease in net cash flow from operating activities in FY 2018 is due to including a full year of contract with Apache North Sea Ltd. The contract concluded on 25 April 2018. Additionally, 2018 included idle time during the summer months prior to the commencement of operations with Shell UK Ltd at much reduced dayrates.
The Company's net cash flow from investing activities amounted to USD 43.3 million in Q1 2019, compared to USD 42.5 in the same period in the prior year, which is mostly in line with the same period in the prior year due to the capital deposits for the new build rigs, as described in Section 6.4.3, of USD 42.5 million paid in the same quarters.
The Company's net cash flow in investing activities amounted to spend of USD 46.4 million in FY 2018. This is an increase of USD 45.8 million compared with prior year due to the deposit paid in respect of Rig 1 (first new build rig).
The Company's net cash flow from financing activities amounted to USD 20.2 million in Q1 2019, which is an increase of USD 26.2 million compared to the same period in the prior year due to the Private Placement of USD 20 million in Q1 2019 plus a dividend payment in Q1 2017 of USD 6 million.
The Company's net cash flow from financing activities amounted to USD 37.0 million in FY 2018. This is an increase of USD 2.9 million compared with prior year due to repayment of the bond – USD 80.0 million greater than prior year partially offset proceeds from an equity issue amounting to USD 68.6 million and lower level of dividend payment in year – USD 8.5 million.
The Company has raised approximately USD 20 million in new equity through a private placement of shares in new equity. Please refer to Section 14 for a description of the Private Placement. Except for the Private Placement, there has not occurred any significant change in the Company's financial or trading position.
Except as set out above, the Company's income from operations has not been affected by significant factors, unusual or infrequent events or new developments.
With the exception of factors customary to the drilling business, as described in Section 2 "Risk Factors", the Company is not aware of any governmental, economic, fiscal, monetary or political policies or factors that have materially affected, directly or indirectly, its operations, or of proposed changes to such policies or factors that could materially affect its operations.
The Company's Board of Directors comprises the members set forth in the table below:
| Name | Position(s) | Served since | Term expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sigurd E. Thorvildsen | Chairman and non-executive director | 2009 | June 2019 |
| Henrik Fougner | Non-executive director | 2010 | June 2019 |
| Daniel Gold | Non-executive director | 2010 | June 2019 |
| John Simpson | Non-executive director | 2011 | June 2019 |
| Synne Syrrist | Non-executive director | 2011 | June 2019 |
Mr. Thorvildsen is the CEO of the Awilhelmsen Group and Chairman of the Board of Awilco LNG ASA. Mr. Thorvilsen has extensive experience from the shipping and offshore industry, and has previously held several senior positions, among them the position as CEO of Awilco AS, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Awilco Offshore ASA and Awilco Heavy Transport ASA (later Ocean HeavyLift ASA). He holds an MSc in business and economics from the Norwegian School of Management. Mr. Thorvildsen is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Oslo, Norway. Mr Thorvildsen's contact address (registered office) is at Awilhelmsen AS, Beddingen 8, 0250 Oslo, Norway.
Mr. Fougner is the COO of the Awilhelmsen Group and serves on the board of Awilco LNG ASA. Mr. Fougner has extensive experience from the shipping, offshore and banking industry, and has previously held several senior positions, among them the position as CEO of Awilco Offshore ASA and CFO of Awilco AS. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. Mr. Fougner is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Oslo, Norway. Mr Fougner's contact address (registered office) is at Awilhelmsen AS, Beddingen 8, 0250 Oslo, Norway.
Mr. Gold is the CEO, managing partner and founder of QVT Financial LP, an asset management company with offices including New York, London, Singapore, and New Delhi. QVT Financial, through its managed funds, is an experienced global investor in the shipping and offshore industries. Mr. Gold holds an AB in Physics from Harvard College. Mr. Gold is an American citizen. The business address of Mr. Gold is QVT Financial LP, 444 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
Mr. Simpson has over 40 years of experience in banking and in shipping finance. Currently he is an Executive Director of Marine Capital Limited, a shipping fund management company. He also has extensive experience as a chair and non-executive director of organisations in the UK, including listed companies. Previously Mr. Simpson was CEO of DNB Bank in London and Regional Director of DNB Bank's Asia - Pacific operations. Mr. Simpson is authorised by the UK FCA. He holds an MSc from the London Business School and a BSc from the University of Southampton. Mr. Simpson is a British citizen. The business address of Mr. Simpson is Marine Capital Limited, 3/f Sackville House, 40 Piccadilly, London W1J 0DR.
Mrs. Syrrist previously worked as an independent consultant, and held positions as financial
analyst in Elcon Securities ASA and First Securities ASA. She also has extensive nonexecutive experience from both listed and private companies, and is currently among others a member of the Board of Directors of Awilco LNG ASA, Aqualis ASA, and Eidesvik Offshore ASA. She holds a Master of Science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and is a Certified Financial Analyst (AFA) from NHH. Mrs. Syrrist is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Oslo, Norway. Mrs Syrrist's contact address (registered office) is at Rundhaugveien 5A, 0495 Oslo, Norway.
None of the members of the Board of Directors holds any shares or stock options in the Company.
As of the date of this Prospectus, no restrictions are agreed on the disposal of Board of Directors' or Senior Managements' holdings in the Company's securities. There is no option programme for the Board of Directors as of the date of this Prospectus and no member of the Board of Directors holds any options in the Company.
The Company has a synthetic share scheme for senior management with a total frame of up to 4% of the Company's issued share capital. See Section 10.5.8 below for further details.
The Company's Senior Management currently consists of seven individuals. The description below sets out details of the members of the Company's Senior Management, including their title, management expertise and experience and business address as of the date of this Prospectus.
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Jens E. O. Berge | Chief Executive Officer |
| Roddy Smith | Chief Operating Officer |
| Ian Wilson | Chief Financial Officer |
| Gary Holman | Operations Director |
| Jan Børge Usland | Commercial Advisor |
| Claus Mørch | Project Director |
| Cathrine Haavind | Investor Relations Manager |
As announced by the Company on 8 March 2019, Jens Berge succeeded Jon Oliver Bryce, the Company's former Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of the Directors. Jens Berge assumed the position as Chief Executive Officer of the Company on 1 May 2019.
Mr. Berge has worked in the offshore oil and gas industry since 2002, mainly with Maersk Drilling where he managed both jack-up and deep-water operations world-wide. His most recent position before joining Awilco Drilling was COO of Prosafe. Mr. Berge has a Master Mariner education from Stavanger Offshore Technical Academy and he holds a dual MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and London Business School. Mr. Berge is a Norwegian citizen. The business address of Mr. Berge is 2 Kingshill Park, Venture Drive, Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB32 6FL, United Kingdom.
Mr. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the offshore and marine industries. During this time he has held a range of senior operational, management and development positions, most recently as Director QHSE at Northern Offshore Ltd. Mr. Smith holds a licence as a Master Mariner. Mr. Smith is a British citizen. The business address of Mr. Smith is 2 Kingshill Park, Venture Drive, Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB32 6FL, United Kingdom.
Mr. Wilson has more than 30 years of experience in the drilling industry and has held several key positions, including Director of Finance and Administration for ENSCO's European and African operations and various positions with ENSCO and Diamond Offshore. He has extensive experience in international and domestic operations and has worked in many different geographic jurisdictions. Mr. Wilson is a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Wilson is a British citizen. The business address of Mr. Wilson is 2 Kingshill Park, Venture Drive, Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB32 6FL, United Kingdom.
Mr. Holman has 30 years of experience in the drilling industry and has held several senior operational positions, most recently as Country Manager for Archer AS. His extensive experience includes mobile and platform drilling operations and rig projects, in both domestic and international environments. Mr. Holman is a British citizen. The business address of Mr. Holman is 2 Kingshill Park, Venture Drive, Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB32 6FL, United Kingdom.
Mr. Usland previously held the position as Director Business Development in Awilco Offshore ASA, where he had the overall responsibility for the follow-up and development of Premium Drilling. Mr Usland has more than 30 years of experience from the offshore industry (previously held the position as marketing manager with an international drilling contractor, responsible for UK). Mr. Usland is a Norwegian citizen. The business address of Mr. Usland is Beddingen 8, Aker Brygge, 0250 Oslo, Norway.
Mr. Mørch has more than 35 years of experience from various newbuilding and conversion projects and from operation of rigs, ships and other shipping and offshore vessels. He previously held the position as Technical Director of Awilco Offsore ASA and has the overall technical responsibility for the upgrading of the Company's rigs. Mr. Mørch is a Norwegian citizen. The business address of Mr. Mørch is Beddingen 8, Aker Brygge, 0250 Oslo, Norway.
Cathrine Haavind has been working with the Company since 2010. Prior to her position as Investor Relations Manager in the Company, she held the position as Investor Relations Manager of Awilco Offshore AS. Mrs. Haavind is a Norwegian citizen. The business address of Mrs. Haavind is Beddingen 8, Aker Brygge, 0250 Oslo, Norway.
10.2.3 Synthetic shares held by the members of the management
The synthetic shares held by the members of the Management as the date of this Prospectus is set out in the table below:
| Name | Number of synthetic shares |
|---|---|
| Ian Wilson | 170,849 |
| Roddy Smith | 188,912 |
| Gary Holman | 170,849 |
| Claus Mørch | 49,399 |
The synthetic shares are not ordinary Shares in the Company and do therefore not provide any shareholder rights for the members of the Management. Accordingly, the synthetic shares solely represent a potential economic interest in the Company for the members of the Management, which is effected by the market price of the Company's Shares.
None of the members of the Management holds any stock options or Shares in the Company.
As described in Section 10.1.3, no restrictions are agreed on the disposal of the Senior Managements' holdings in the Company's securities.
The following table sets forth all companies and partnerships in which the members of the Board of Directors and Management have been members of the administrative, management and supervisory bodies in the previous five years (not including subsidiaries within the Group).
Overview of Board Members
| Directorships and management positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name of director | Current | Terminated |
| Sigurd E. Thorvildsen | Awilhelmsen AS Awilhelmsen Management AS Awilco AS Linstow AS Awilco Invest AS Awilhelmsen Capital Holdings AS Awilhelmsen Capital AS Millenium Falcon AS Awilhelmsen Offshore AS Awilhelmsen Capital II AS Awilco LNG ASA |
Sector Speculare AS Awilco Container AS Awilco Container 1 AS Awilco Container 2 AS Awilco Container 3 AS Awilco Container 4 AS Awilco Shipping AS Awilco Drilling AS |
| Henrik Fougner | Awilhelmsen Management AS Beddingen 8 AS AS Investa AS Karibien Awilco AS Power International AS Awilhelmsen Capital Holdings AS Awilco LNG ASA Linstow AS Awilhelmsen Capital AS Awilhelmsen Offshore AS Awilhelmsen Capital II AS AS Møllegaarden |
Spekter GNO II AS Wilhelmsen Transport & Trading II AS Petrotrym AS Awilco Container AS Awilco Container 1 AS Awilco Container 2 AS Awilco Container 3 AS Awilco Container 4 AS Awilco Shipping AS Awilco Venture AS Awilco Drilling AS |
| Daniel Gold | QVT Overseas Ltd QVT Financial LP and its affiliates Biosynexus Inc |
Strata Marine and Offshore Frigstad Discoverer Invest Ltd |
| John Simpson | Leviathan Consultancy Ltd Anchor Capital Advisors (UK) Ltd |
Sovereign Housing Association and sub companies Luminus Group Limited and sub companies |
| Marine Capital Ltd | Trafalgar Shipping Limited | |
|---|---|---|
| Paradigm Charitable Housing Association Limited and sub companies |
St. Leger Shipping Limited | |
| West Horsley Place Limited | East Anglian Student Tenancies Limited |
|
| Mary Roxburghe Trust (charity) | The Environment Trust for Richmond -upon -Thames (charity) |
|
| Friends of the River Crane Environment (charity) Auriga Environmental LLP |
First Priority Housing Association | |
| Synne Syrrist | Awilco Lng ASA | Weifa ASA |
| Eidesvik Offshore ASA | Norwegian Property ASA | |
| Castelar Corporate Finance AS | Global Rig Company ASA | |
| Aqualis ASA | NorAm Drilling Company Inc | |
| Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter AS | Global Active 1 AS | |
| Østfold Logistikkbygg AS | Global Active 2 AS | |
| 0495 Grefsen AS | Global Active 3 AS | |
| Midt-Norge Bilbark AS | Global Active 4 AS | |
| Sørlandet Bilpark AS | Intex Resources ASA | |
| Vestfold Logistikkbygg AS | DnB NOR ShippingInvest I ASA | |
| Telemark Logistikkbygg AS | IP SkipsHolding I AS | |
| Østfold Etatbygg AS | IP Shipping I AS | |
| Bergen Kommnebugg AS | IP Skipseiende 2 AS | |
| Hafjell Helse- og Handelsbygg AS | LPG Ships 1 AS | |
| Lillehammer Handelseiendom AS | ||
| Noram Drilling Company AS |
| Directorships and management positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Current | Terminated | |||
| Jens. E. O. Berge | Hareid Elektriske AS | Maersk Viking LLC | |||
| Maersk Drilling UK Ltd. | |||||
| Maersk Highlander UK Ltd. | |||||
| Maersk Drilling Labuan Ltd. | |||||
| Maersk Drilling Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. | |||||
| Maersk Drilling Services A/S | |||||
| Maersk Drilling Services Singapore | |||||
| Pte. Ltd. | |||||
| A.P. Møller Maersk | |||||
| Prosafe Offshore Limited | |||||
| Rowan Drilling Trinidad Ltd. | |||||
| Ian Wilson | - | Ensco Services Ltd | |||
| Ensco Offshore U.K. Ltd | |||||
| Roddy Smith | - | Northern Offshore Ltd | |||
| Transocean | |||||
| GlobalSantaFe |
| WilPhoenix (Malta) Ltd | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gary Holman | - | |
| Jan Børge Usland | Awilhelmsen Offshore AS Ucon Offshore AS Oslo Kajakklub WM Maraton Padling 2020 AS WilPhoenix (UK) Ltd WilHunter (UK) Ltd Awilco Drilling Pte Ltd |
Petrotrym AS Spekter GNO II AS |
| Claus Mørch | Stiftelsen Bygdøhus Bygdø Fekteklubb Stiftelsen Fullriggeren Sørlandet Claus Theodor Mørch |
Awilco Technical Services AS Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS Nessco AS Awilco LNG Technical Management AS |
| Cathrine Haavind | Bygdøy Basketballklubb Forart Institutt for forskning i samtidskunst |
WilHunter (Malta) Ltd
The Company has established an audit committee, remuneration committee and nomination committee.
The members of the audit committee are Mr. Simpson and Mr. Fougner. The primary purpose of the audit committee is to act as a preparatory and advisory body for the Board and support the Board in the exercise of its responsibility for financial reporting, internal control and risk management. Mr. Simpson is the chairman of the audit committee.
The members of the compensation committee are Mr. Thorvildsen, Mr. Gold and Mr. Fougner. The primary purpose of the compensation committee is to assist the Board in discharging its duty relating to determining the Company's Senior Management compensation. The Company's compensation committee reports and makes recommendations to the Board, but the Board retains responsibility for implementing such recommendations. Mr. Thorvildsen is the chairman of the remuneration committee.
The members of the nomination committee are Mr. Tom Furulund and Mr. Henrik Christensen. The primary purpose of the nomination committee is to present a recommendation to the Company's general meetings concerning directors to be elected by the Company's shareholders and the level of directors' fees. The nomination committee shall also present recommendations to the general meetings regarding nomination of members to the nomination committee and concerning fees for the members of the nomination committee. Mr. Furulund is the chairman of the nomination committee.
10.5.1 Remuneration to the Board of Directors
The remuneration to the Board of Directors in 2018 was a total of GBP 578,905, of which the current directors received the following amounts:
| Name | Position | Director fee (GBP) |
Bonus (GBP) |
Other remuneration (GBP) |
Pension (GBP) |
Total (GBP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sigurd E. Thorvildsen | Chairman | 49,375 | - | - | - | 49,375 |
| Henrik Fougner | Director | 39,125 | - | - | - | 39,125 |
| Daniel Gold | Director | 36,125 | - | - | - | 36,125 |
| John Simpson | Director | 38,125 | - | - | - | 38,125 |
| Synne Syrrist | Director | 33,125 | - | - | - | 33,125 |
| Jon Oliver Bryce3 | Director | 265,000 | 82,800 | 11,380 | 23,850 | 383,030 |
On an annualised basis, the total remuneration to the existing members of the Senior Management in 2018 was as follows:
| Fixed salary | Other remuneration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Salary | Variable salary | Other remuneration |
Pension | Total remuneration |
| Executive Management |
GBP 887,200 | GBP 295,026 | GBP 40,000 | GBP 79,848 | GBP 1,302,074 |
The services of Jan Børge Usland, Claus Mørch and Cathrine Haavind are provided to the Company through a "management for hire" contract with Awilhelmsen Management AS, a company in the Awilhelmsen group. A description of post-termination arrangements is provided in Section 10.5.4.
A pension scheme for employees of Awilco Drilling Pte. Ltd. offshore personnel and Awilco Drilling PLC onshore personnel has been established. The pension scheme is managed by A2B on behalf of Scottish Widows. The employee scheme is voluntary.
The total amounts set aside or accrued by the Company to provide pension, retirement or similar benefits as of 31 December 2018 was GBP 0.1 million.
The employment contracts with the Senior Management employees of the Company can be terminated with 6 months notice.
No member of the Board of Directors or Senior Management, except from as described above, has service contracts with the Group providing for benefits upon termination of employment.
10.5.5 Loan to employees and members of the Board of Directors and the Senior Management
No loans, guarantees or other commitments to any member of the Senior Management or Board of Directors have been granted. The Company has no loans outstanding to employees.
3 Jon Bryce resigned from the position as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors in March 2019.
The Company does not have consultancy agreements with any current members of the Board of Directors.
There is currently a bonus scheme for the members of the Senior Management. The CEO bonus award level is discretionary. The CFO, the COO and the Operations Director bonus award is paid up to a maximum of 40% base salary. The Company has implemented a senior management bonus scheme, with an award level of a maximum 30% base salary.
A long term incentive plan for key management personnel for synthetic shares, with a total limit of up to 4% of the Company's issued share capital was approved at the Annual General Meeting on 26 June 2013. The awards for the years 2010 and 2012 are now fully exercised. There are still outstanding amounts under the 2014, 2015 and 2016 plans. See Section 10.2.3 for further information.
The plan "vests" after three years and the exercise period is five years subject to the employee remaining employed by the Company with the exception of the 2016 plan which "vests" after four years.
All share options and awards are cash settled.
The Company's directors Mr. Thorvildsen and Mr. Fougner are employed by the Awilhelmsen Group. Companies in the Awilhelmsen Group are providing certain services to the Company. Please see Section 6.8 above for a description of these arrangements.
Other than as described above, to the Company's knowledge there are currently no other actual or potential conflicts of interest between the Company and the private interests or other duties of any of the members of the Company's Senior Management or the Board of Directors. There are no family relationships between members of the Company's Senior Management and the Board of Directors.
None of the members of the Board of Directors or the Management have during the last five years preceding the date of this Prospectus:
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company has 25 onshore employees (employed directly through the Company), with support from three contractors. Furthermore, the Company has 115 offshore employees (employed via by Awilco Drilling Pte. Ltd.) and 2 onshore employees.
The following table illustrates the number of employees as per the end of 2018, 2017 and 2016:
| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total employees | 147 | 141 | 141 |
| Group/Company |
Under the rules applicable to companies listed on Oslo Børs, the Company, as an English company, may elect to choose between corporate governance standards relating to the Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance (the "Norwegian Code") or to the UK Code of Corporate Governance (the "UK Code"). The Company has resolved that it will relate to the Norwegian Code. It should be noted, however, that the Company may in the future decide that it will relate to the UK Code instead of the Norwegian Code.
The Norwegian Code is based on a "comply or explain" principle. This means that the Company must either comply with the recommendations of the Norwegian Code or explain why it chooses not to comply. Since the Company is subject to English company law, which in several respects is different from Norwegian company law, it will to some extent deviate from certain recommendations of the Norwegian Code in order to comply with English law and practice.
Save as provided below, the Company is in compliance with the Norwegian Code:
The Company's legal and commercial name is Awilco Drilling Plc. The Company is a public limited company organised and existing under the laws of England and Wales. The Company was incorporated on 30 December 2009 and its registration number is 07114196.
The Company's registered office is 11-12 St James's Square, 3rd Floor, London SW1Y 4LB, United Kingdom and its registered business address is 2 Kingshill Park, Venture Drive, Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, Aberdeen AB32 6FL, United Kingdom. The Company's telephone number is +44 1224 737900. The Company's website can be found at www.awilcodrilling.com.
The share capital of the Company is GBP 354,779.75 divided into 54,581,500 Shares of a nominal value of GBP 0.0065 each.
The Company has one class of Shares. Each Share carries one vote and all Shares carry equal rights in all respects, including rights to dividends. All the Shares are fully paid and validly issued in accordance with the laws of England. There are no shares not representing capital in the Company. The Company's Shares are listed on Oslo Børs and are traded under the ticker code "AWDR".
The Company's Shares are registered in the UK Companies House with DNB Bank ASA as the sole shareholder. A sub registry is maintained in VPS where the Shares are registered with International Securities Identification Number ("ISIN") GB00B5LJSC86. The Shares are registered electronically in book-entry form in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS). The Company's registrar is DNB Bank ASA, registrars department, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, 0191 Oslo, Norway (the "VPS Registrar").
There have been no changes in the Company's share capital in 2017 and 2016. On 28 February 2018, the Company completed a private placement raising USD 65 million which increased the share capital of the Company with GBP 114,400 through the issuance of 17,600,000 Shares. On 18 June 2018, the Company completed a subsequent raising USD 4.7 million which increased the share capital of the Company with GBP 9,100 through the issuance of 1,400,000 Shares. On 11 March 2019, the Company completed a private placement raising USD 20 million which increased the share capital of the Company with GBP 36,075 through the issuance of 5,550,000 Shares.
| Date of registration |
Type of change |
Share capital reduction / increase (GBP) |
Share capital (GBP) |
Subscription price (NOK/share) |
Par value (GBP/ share) |
Issued shares |
Total shares |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 March 2018 |
Issuance of shares |
Increase 114,400 |
309,604.75 | 29 | 0.0065 | 17,600,000 | 47,631,500 |
| 25 June 2018 |
Issuance of shares |
Increase 9,100 | 318,704.75 | 27.35 | 0.0065 | 1,400,000 | 49,031,500 |
| 14 March 2019 |
Issuance of shares |
Increase 36,075 |
354,779.75 | 31.80 | 0.0065 | 5,550,000 | 54,581,500 |
The table below summarizes the changes in the Company's share capital following the private placement on 11 March 2019.
The number of Shares outstanding as of 31 March 2019 was 54,581,500.
On 6 June 2018, the Company's annual general meeting resolved to grant an authority to the Board of Directors to allot shares in the Company or grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares in the Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of GBP 100,100. The authority will expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company, save that the Company may, before such expiry, make an offer or agreement which would or might require shares to be allotted and the directors may allot shares in pursuance of such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the authority conferred by that resolution has expired.
The Board of Directors approved the Private Placement completed on 11 March 2019 and resolved the issuance of the Private Placement Shares in accordance with the authority. Following the Private Placement, GBP 64,025 was the remaining amount under the authority. This amount is also the remaining amount under the authority as of the date of the Prospectus.
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company has a total of 694 shareholders.
A shareholder is required to notify the Company, in accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rule 5 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Services Authority if, as a result of an acquisition or disposal of Shares, the percentage of voting rights he holds as a shareholder (or holds or is deemed to hold through his direct or indirect beneficial interest in the Shares) reaches, exceeds, or falls below 3% of the Company's nominal value of that share capital. To the knowledge of the Company, only the five largest shareholders of the Company hold more than 3% of the outstanding share capital of the Company as per the date of this Prospectus.
Below is set out a list of the shareholders of the Company as registered in the VPS on 3 June 2019 which holds 3% or more of the Company's Shares:
| Shareholder | Number of shares | % |
|---|---|---|
| Awilhelmsen Offshore AS | 20,240,814 | 37.08 |
| UBS Securities LLC | 9,672,216 | 17.72 |
| Akastor ASA | 3,049,673 | 5.58 |
| Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. | 2,250,244 | 4.12 |
| Citibank N.A. | 1,878,637 | 3.44 |
UBS Securities LLC, Citibank N.A. and Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. hold shares in the Company in their capacity as investment managers for the shareholders.
In addition, as of the date of this Prospectus, funds managed by QVT Financial LP own 4,665,895 Shares in the Company, amounting to a total of 8.55% of the Company's share capital. QVT Financial LP is an asset management company in which the Company's director Mr. Gold is the CEO and the founder. FVP Master Fund LP with affiliated and related parties own 10,817,537 shares as of the date of this Prospectus, amounting to a total of 19.03% of the Company's share capital.
As of 5 June 2019, (being the latest practicable date prior to the date of publication of this Prospectus), the Company is not aware of any other shareholders or consolidated group of Shareholders having an interest in the Company's capital or voting rights which is notifiable under the laws of England, or which could exercise, directly or indirectly, jointly or severally, control over the Company nor is it aware of any arrangements, the operation of which may at a subsequent date result in a change of control of the Company.
None of the Shareholders of the Company has different voting rights from any other holder of Shares in respect of any Share held by them and all Shares have equal voting rights. Each Share carries the right to one vote at the Company's shareholders meeting and the VPS Registrar shall, as set out in Section 11.9 "VPS Registration" below, only vote for the Shares it holds as nominee for each VPS Shareholder, or issue a proxy to vote such Shares, in accordance with each investor's instructions.
Awilhelmsen Offshore AS ("Awilhelmsen") holds 37.08% of the Shares in the Company. While Awilhelmsen does not hold a majority of the votes in the Company it gives Awilhelmsen a significant influence and the potential to exercise control over the Company. In particular, it means that Awilhelmsen will be in a position to block the passing of any special resolution at any general meeting of the Company since special resolutions must be passed by a majority of not less than 75%. This influence must be exercised in accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, applicable laws in England and Wales, and the rules of Oslo Børs. Reference is made to Section 11.12 "Articles of Association" for a summary of the Company's Articles of Association. Apart from the aforesaid, there are no specific measures in place regulating the influence which follows from holding a significant part of the Shares in the Company.
No Shareholders are subject to mandatory bid requirements for the Shares.
The Company is not aware of any arrangements which may at a later date lead to a change in control in the Company.
The Company does not hold any own shares. The Company does not have any authorisation to acquire own shares.
The Company has no convertible loans outstanding. With the exception of the share option programme described in Section 10.5.8, there are no securities giving the right to subscribe for additional shares in the Company.
No capital of any member of the Company's group is under option or agreed to be put under option.
The shares of the Company have not been subject to any mandatory or voluntary general offers.
As described in Section 11.2, the Company's Shares are registered in the UK Companies House with DNB Bank ASA as the sole shareholder and registered electronically in bookentry form in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) with DNB Bank ASA as the VPS Registrar.
The VPS Registrar is registered as the holder of legal title to the Shares in the register of members which the Company is required to maintain under English law. The VPS Registrar holds all the Shares through the VPS as a nominee on behalf of each investor. The VPS Registrar has registered beneficial interests representing the Shares through the systems of the VPS. These beneficial interests are registered in the VPS under the category of a "share", and is listed and traded on Oslo Børs. References in this Prospectus to the "Shares" shall, where the context so requires, mean the beneficial interests in those Shares registered in the VPS. References in this Prospectus to "Shareholders" shall, where the context so requires, mean the holders of the beneficial interests to Shares registered in the VPS. Each Share registered with the VPS represents evidence of beneficial ownership of one Share.
For the purpose of English law, the VPS Registrar will be regarded as the legal owner of the Shares. Investors holding Shares through the VPS ("VPS Shareholders") must look solely to the VPS Registrar for the payment of dividends, for the exercise of voting rights attaching to the Shares and for all other rights arising in respect of the Shares.
The VPS Registrar shall only vote for the Shares it holds as nominee for each VPS Shareholder, or issue a proxy to vote such Shares, in accordance with each investor's instructions. The Company will pay dividends directly to the VPS Registrar, which has undertaken, in turn, to distribute the dividends to the shareholders in accordance with the Registrar Agreement. VPS Shareholders who maintain a Norwegian address in the Norwegian Register or have supplied VPS with details of their Norwegian krone account will receive their dividend payment in NOK to such account. Dividends will however be resolved and paid by the Company in USD as this is the accounting currency of the Company.
VPS Shareholders whose address registered with the VPS is outside Norway and who have not supplied the VPS with details of any Norwegian kroner account, will receive dividends by cheque in their local currency. If it is not practical in the VPS Registrar's sole opinion to issue a cheque in a local currency, a cheque will be issued in USD.
The VPS Registrar has disclaimed any liability for any loss attributable to circumstances beyond the VPS Registrar's control, including, but not limited to, errors committed by others. The VPS Registrar is not liable for errors committed by the VPS or losses incurred as a result of VPS' conduct.
Each of the Company and the VPS Registrar may terminate the Registrar Agreement at any time with a minimum of three months' written notice, or immediately upon written notice of a material breach by the other party of the Registrar Agreement.
The Registrar Agreement provides that the VPS Registrar shall assist in expediently forwarding all reports, accounts, financial statements, circulars or other similar documents issued by the Company to its shareholders, to each of the VPS Shareholders at the address recorded in the VPS in respect of each VPS Shareholder.
The principal objective of the Company's shareholder policy is to provide shareholders with a maximum return on their invested capital over time. The Company intends to provide the market and its shareholders with reliable, timely and consistent information to ensure that investors at all times have a sound basis for their investment decisions. In addition to regular quarterly reporting, the Company will provide notifications in respect of significant events as they occur. Further, the Company has and will continue to meet regularly with investors and analysts.
The Company's dividend policy has been to pay a quarterly dividend in support of its main objective to maximise returns to shareholders. All of the Company's free cash flow was distributed subject to maintaining a robust cash buffer to support working capital requirements, planned capital expenditure and uncertain future market prospects.
Since June 2013, the Company has consistently paid a quarterly dividend and during this time has distributed USD 12.00 (NOK 83.22) per share in this respect. With the ordering of two new-build high-end semi submersible rigs in March 2018 and 2019, plus an agreement for a further two independent rig options, the Company is now in a growth and investment phase. The Board of Directors has, therefore, on 14 August 2018 decided to suspend the dividend and will resume same when the Company again reaches an appropriate free cash flow situation.There are no current estimates regarding the potential future dividend level or timing of dividend payments.
The Company's total dividend distributed in 2018 was USD 9.5 million. In 2017, the Company distributed USD 24.0 million in dividends. In 2016 and 2015, the Company distributed USD 19.5 million and USD 75.1 million, respectively.
The Company is not aware of any shareholders' agreements in relation to the Shares. No shareholders of the Company are subject to lock-up arrangements on their shares.
The Company's Articles of Association is attached to this Prospectus as Appendix A. The Articles of Association contain provisions, inter alia, to the following effect:
The Company may, by ordinary resolution, declare a dividend to be paid to members in accordance with the respective rights and interests of the members and no dividend shall exceed the amount recommended by the Board.
The Board may pay interim dividends if it appears to the Board to be justified by the financial position of the Company. The Board may also pay fixed rate dividends whenever the financial position of the Company, in the opinion of the Board, justifies the payment. Provided if the Board acts in good faith, none of the Directors shall incur any liability to the holders of Shares conferring preferred rights for any loss they may suffer in consequence of the payment of an interim dividend on any Shares having deferred or non-preferred rights.
No dividend or other moneys payable by the Company on or in respect of a share shall bear interest against the Company unless otherwise provided by the rights attached to the share or by agreement made between the holder of the Shares and the Company.
All unclaimed dividends may be invested or otherwise made use of by the Board for the benefit of the Company until claimed. Any dividend that remain unclaimed for 12 years from the date it becomes due for payment shall be forfeited and cease to remain owing by the Company.
Subject to any special rights or restrictions as to voting for the time being attached to any class of share in the Company, on a show of hands every member who (being an individual) is present in person or by proxy or (being a corporation) is present by a duly authorised representative, shall have one vote and on a poll every member present in person or by proxy shall have one vote for every share of which he is the holder.
If, at any time, the Board is satisfied that any member or other person appearing to be interested in shares of the Company has been duly served with a notice under section 793 of the Companies Act and is in default for 14 days after the section 793 notice has been given in supplying to the Company the information thereby required, then the Board may direct that, in respect of the shares in relation to which the default occurred:
The instrument of transfer of a certificated share may be in any usual form or in any other form approved by the Board. An instrument of transfer shall be signed by or on behalf of the transferor and, unless the share is fully paid, by or on behalf of the transferee. The Board may refuse to register any instrument of transfer of a share which is not fully paid. The Board may also refuse to register any transfer of a share unless it is made:
Subject to the Companies Act and to the rights conferred on the holders of any other shares, any share may be issued with, or have attached to it, such rights or restrictions as the Company may by ordinary resolution determine or, if no such resolution is in effect or so far as the resolution does not make specific provision, as the Board shall determine. Subject to the Companies Act, any share may be issued on terms that it is to be redeemed or, at the option of the Company or the holder, is liable to be redeemed. Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act, any resolution by the Company and the provisions in the Company's Articles of Association, the Board may offer, allot (with or without conferring a right of renunciation), grant options over or otherwise deal with or dispose of any shares in the Company to such persons, at such times and generally on such terms as the Board may decide.
Subject to the Companies Act, any share may be issued on terms that it is to be redeemed or is liable to be redeemed at the option of the Company or the holder. The terms and conditions and manner of redemption may be determined by the Board provided that this is done before the Shares are allotted.
Whenever the capital of the Company is divided into different classes of shares, all or any of the rights attached to any class of shares in issue may from time to time whether or not the Company is being wound up be varied in such manner as those rights may provide, or (if no such provision is made) either:
(i) with the written consent of the holders of three quarters in nominal value of the issued shares of that class; or
(ii) with the authority of a special resolution passed at a separate general meeting or annual general meeting of holders of those shares.
The Company shall have a first and paramount lien on every share (not being a fully paid share) for all amounts payable (whether or not due) in respect of that share. The Board may either generally or in any particular case declare any shares to be wholly or in part exempt from such lien.
Subject to the terms of allotment, the Board may make calls on the members in respect of any moneys unpaid on their shares (whether in respect of nominal amount or premium). If that notice is not complied with, any share in respect of which it was given may, at any time before the payment required by the notice has been made, be forfeited by a resolution of the Board. The forfeiture shall include all dividends or other moneys payable in respect of the forfeited shares which have not been paid before the forfeiture.
The Company shall be entitled to sell, in such manner as the Board may decide and at the best price it considers reasonably obtainable at that time, the shares of a member or the shares to which a person is entitled by transmission if, among other, that during a period of 12 years at least three cash dividends have become payable in respect of the share to be sold and have been sent by the Company in accordance with its Articles of Association;
The Company shall be obliged to account to the person entitled to the shares at the date of sale for an amount equal to the net proceeds and shall be deemed to be his debtor and not a trustee for him, in respect of them.
The Board shall convene and the Company shall hold Annual General Meetings in accordance with the Companies Act.
The Board may convene an extraordinary general meeting whenever it thinks fit.
An Annual General Meeting and all other general meetings of the Company shall be called by at least such minimum period of notice as is prescribed under the Companies Act. The notice shall specify the place, day and time of the meeting, and the general nature of the business to be transacted. Notice of every general meeting shall be given to all members so entitled and also to the auditors (or, if more than one, each of them) and to each direct.
The Directors shall be not less than five and not more than eleven in number. The Company may by ordinary resolution vary the minimum and/or maximum number of Directors.
Directors may be appointed by the Company by ordinary resolution or by the Board.
At every Annual General Meeting of the Company, any Director then in office who has been appointed by the Board since the previous Annual General Meeting shall retire from office but shall be eligible for re-appointment.
A Director may also be removed from office by giving him notice to that effect signed by or on behalf of all the other Directors (or their alternates)
Any Director may appoint as an alternate other Director, or any person, approved by resolution of the Directors, to exercise that Director's powers, and carry out that Director's responsibilities, in relation to the taking of decisions by the Directors in the absence of the appointing Director. An appointment or removal of an alternate Director must be effected by notice in writing to the Company signed by the appointing Director, or in any other manner approved by the Directors.
The Board may meet for the despatch of business, adjourn and otherwise regulate its meetings as it thinks fit. Notice of a Board meeting may be given to a Director personally or by word of mouth or given in writing or by electronic means to him at such address as he may from time to time specify for this purpose. The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the Board may be fixed by the Board and, unless so fixed at any other number not being less than two, shall be two. A meeting of the Board at which a quorum is present shall be competent to exercise all the powers, authorities and discretions vested in or exercisable by the Board.
A Board meeting may consist of a conference between Directors some or all of whom are in different places provided that each Director may participate in the business of the meeting whether directly, by telephone or by other electronic means which enables him to hear each of the other participating Directors addressing the meeting and if he so wishes, to address all of the other participating Directors simultaneously. A person so participating shall be deemed to be present at the meeting and shall be entitled to vote and to be counted in the quorum.
The Directors are entitled to remuneration and fees for their services to the Company in relation to the performance of the office of Director as may be determined by the Company at a general meeting. However, Directors who are employed by the Company shall be entitled to such remuneration in respect of such employment as the Directors may determine.
The Board may exercise all the powers of the Company to pay, provide or procure, among other grant of pensions, allowances, gratuities or other disability benefits, to or in respect of that Director.
No Director may vote (or be counted in the quorum) in relation to any resolution of the Board concerning his own appointment (including fixing or varying of its terms), or the termination of his own appointment, as the holder of any office or place of profit with the Company or any other company in which the Company is interested.
The business of the Company shall be managed by the Board which may exercise all the powers of the Company, subject to the Companies Act, the Articles of Association and any ordinary resolution of the Company. The Board may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge all or any part of its undertaking, property and assets (both present and future) and uncalled capital and, subject to the relevant statues, to issue debentures and other securities, whether outright or as collateral security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party.
Oslo Børs was established in 1819 and is the principal market in which shares, bonds and other financial instruments are traded in Norway. Oslo Børs is operated by Oslo Børs ASA, which also operates the regulated marketplace Oslo Axess.
Oslo Børs has entered into a strategic cooperation with the London Stock Exchange group with regards to, inter alia, trading systems for equities, fixed income and derivatives.
Trading of equities on Oslo Børs is carried out in the electronic trading system Millenium Exchange. This trading system was developed by the London Stock Exchange and is in use by all markets operated by the London Stock Exchange as well as by the Borsa Italiana and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Official trading on Oslo Børs takes place between 09:00 hours (CET) and 16:20 hours (CET) each trading day, with pre-trade period between 08:15 hours (CET) and 09:00 hours (CET), closing auction from 16:20 hours (CET) to 16:25 hours (CET) and a post-trade period from 16:25 hours (CET) to 17:30 hours (CET). Reporting of after exchange trades can be done until 17:30 hours (CET).
The settlement period for trading on Oslo Børs is two trading days (T+2). This means that securities will be settled on the investor's account in the VPS two days after the transaction, and that the seller will receive payment after two days.
Oslo Clearing ASA, a wholly-owned subsidiary SIX x-clear Ltd, a company in the Six Group, has a license from the Norwegian FSA to act as a central clearing service, and has from 18 June 2010 offered clearing and counterparty services for equity trading on Oslo Børs.
Investment services in Norway may only be provided by Norwegian investment firms holding a license under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, branches of investment firms from an EEA member state or investment firms from outside the EEA that have been licensed to operate in Norway. Investment firms in an EEA member state may also provide cross-border investment services into Norway.
It is possible for investment firms to undertake market-making activities in shares listed in Norway if they have a license to this effect under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, or in the case of investment firms in an EEA member state, a license to carry out marketmaking activities in their home jurisdiction. Such market-making activities will be governed by the regulations of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act relating to brokers' trading for their own account. However, market-making activities do not as such require notification to the Norwegian FSA or Oslo Børs except for the general obligation of investment firms being members of Oslo Børs to report all trades in stock exchange listed securities.
Under Norwegian law, Oslo Børs is required to perform a number of surveillance and control functions. The Surveillance and Corporate Control unit of Oslo Børs monitors market activity on a continuous basis. Market surveillance systems are largely automated, promptly warning department personnel of abnormal market developments.
The Norwegian FSA controls the issuance of securities in both the equity and bond markets in Norway and evaluates whether the issuance documentation contains the required information and whether it would otherwise be unlawful to carry out the issuance. Under Norwegian law, a company that is listed on a Norwegian regulated market, or has applied for listing on such market, must promptly release any inside information directly concerning the company (i.e. precise information about financial instruments, the issuer thereof or other matters which are likely to have a significant effect on the price of the relevant financial instruments or related financial instruments, and which are not publicly available or commonly known in the market). A company may, however, delay the release of such information in order not to prejudice its legitimate interests, provided that it is able to ensure the confidentiality of the information and that the delayed release would not be likely to mislead the public. Oslo Børs may levy fines on companies violating these requirements.
The Company's shareholder register is operated through the VPS. The VPS is the Norwegian paperless centralised securities register. It is a computerised bookkeeping system in which the ownership of, and all transactions relating to, Norwegian listed shares must be recorded. All transactions relating to securities registered with the VPS are made through computerised book entries. No physical share certificates are, or may be, issued. The VPS confirms each entry by sending a transcript to the registered shareholder irrespective of any beneficial ownership. To give effect to such entries, the individual shareholder must establish a share account with a Norwegian account agent. Norwegian banks, authorised securities brokers in Norway and Norwegian branches of credit institutions established within the EEA are allowed to act as account agents.
The entry of a transaction in the VPS is generally prima facie evidence in determining the legal rights of parties as against the issuing company or any third party claiming an interest in the given security.
The VPS is liable for any loss suffered as a result of faulty registration or an amendment to, or deletion of, rights in respect of registered securities unless the error is caused by matters outside the VPS' control which the VPS could not reasonably be expected to avoid or overcome the consequences of. Damages payable by the VPS may, however, be reduced in the event of contributory negligence by the aggrieved party.
The VPS must provide information to the Norwegian FSA on an on-going basis, as well as any information that the Norwegian FSA requests. Further, Norwegian tax authorities may require certain information from the VPS regarding any individual's holdings of securities, including information about dividends and interest payments.
Under Norwegian law, shares are registered in the name of the beneficial owner of the shares. As a general rule, there are no arrangements for nominee registration, and Norwegian shareholders are not allowed to register their shares in the VPS through a nominee. However, foreign shareholders may register their shares in the VPS in the name of a nominee (bank or other nominee) approved by the Norwegian FSA. An approved and registered nominee has a duty to provide information on demand about beneficial shareholders to the issuer and to the Norwegian authorities. In case of registration by nominees, the registration in the VPS must show that the registered owner is a nominee. A registered nominee has the right to receive dividends and other distributions but cannot vote on shares at general meetings on behalf of the beneficial owners.
Foreign investors may trade shares listed on Oslo Børs through any broker that is a member of Oslo Børs, whether Norwegian or foreign.
If a person's, entity's or consolidated group's proportion of the total issued shares and/or rights to shares in an issuer with its shares listed on a regulated market in Norway (with Norway as its home state, which will be the case for the Company) reaches, exceeds or falls below the respective thresholds of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 1/3, 50%, 2/3 or 90%
of the share capital or the voting rights of that issuer, the person, entity or group in question has an obligation under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act to notify Oslo Børs and the issuer immediately. The same applies if the disclosure thresholds are passed due to other circumstances, such as a change in the Company's share capital.
A shareholder of the Company is required to notify the Company, in accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rule 5 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Services Authority if, as a result of an acquisition or disposal of Shares, the percentage of voting rights he holds as a shareholder (or holds or is deemed to hold through his direct or indirect beneficial interest in the Shares) reaches, exceeds, or falls below 3% of the Company's nominal value of that share capital. See more information in Section 11.4.1.
According to Norwegian law, subscription for, purchase, sale or exchange of financial instruments that are listed, or subject to the application for listing, on a Norwegian regulated market, or incitement to such dispositions, must not be undertaken by anyone who has inside information, as defined in section 3-2 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The same applies to the entry into, purchase, sale or exchange of options or futures/forward contracts or equivalent rights whose value is connected to such financial instruments or incitement to such dispositions.
Since Awilco Drilling is incorporated in the United Kingdom, any takeovers would partially be governed by the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and partially by the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. Issues relating to the offer procedure and consideration (offer price, information on the bidder's decision to present a bid, the content of the offer document, the publication of the bid, etc.) will be regulated by Norwegian law, but issues relating to company law aspects of the offer (dialogue with employees, thresholds that trigger the obligations to make a mandatory offer, derogations from the obligation to launch an offer and restrictions on the ability of an offeree company to frustrate an offer etc.) will be regulated by the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.
Under the City Code, if an acquisition of an interest in shares, whether by a series of transactions over a period of time or not, were to increase the aggregate holding of the acquiror and its concert parties to an interest in shares carrying 30% or more of the voting rights in the Company, the acquiror and, depending on the circumstances, its concert parties, would be required (except with the consent of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers) to make a cash offer for the outstanding shares in the Company. This requirement would also normally be triggered by any acquisition of an interest in shares by a person holding (together with its concert parties) an interest in shares carrying not less than 30% of the voting rights in the Company but who does not hold shares carrying more than 50% of such voting rights, if the effect of such acquisition were to increase that person's percentage of the voting rights.
In accordance with the City Code, a person will be deemed to have an interest in shares if he has long economic exposure, whether absolute or conditional, to changes in the price of the shares. In particular, a person will be treated as having an interest in shares if he owns or has the right (whether conditional or absolute) to exercise or direct the exercise of the voting rights attaching to them. An interest in shares will also arise by the virtue of any agreement to purchase, option or derivative, if that person has the right or option to acquire them or call for their delivery or is under an obligation to take delivery of them, whether the right, option or obligation is conditional or absolute and whether it is in the money or otherwise and if a person is party to any derivative whose value is determined by reference to the price of the shares and which results, or may result, in his having a
Under the United Kingdom Companies Act, if an offeror has, by virtue of acceptances of an offer, acquired or unconditionally contracted to acquire, not less than 90% of the shares to which the offer relates, the offeror is entitled compulsorily to acquire the remaining 10%. The consideration paid to the shareholders whose shares are compulsorily acquired under the Companies Act must, in general, be the same as the consideration that was available under the takeover offer. Equally, if an offeror has acquired or unconditionally contracted to acquire not less than 90% of the shares to which an offer relates, the remaining shareholders can compel the offeror to acquire their shares on the same terms.
Awilco Drilling will be subject to the relevant parts of Norwegian mandatory offer regulations and if a subsequent mandatory offer obligation is triggered pursuant to English law, the offer must be made in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The offer would be subject to approval by Oslo Børs before submission of the offer to the shareholders. The offer price per share must be at least as high as the highest price paid or agreed by the offeror in the six-month period prior to the date the mandatory offer obligation, and at least equal to the market price if it is clear that the market price was higher at the point the mandatory bid obligation was triggered. In the event that the acquirer after the mandatory bid obligation was triggered, but prior to the expiration of the bid period, acquires, or agrees to acquire, additional shares at a higher price, the acquirer is obliged to restate its bid at that higher price. A mandatory offer must be in cash or contain a cash alternative at least equivalent to any other consideration offered.
The Norwegian Securities Trading Act requires any person, entity or consolidated group that becomes the owner of shares representing more than one-third of the voting rights of a Norwegian issuer with its shares listed on a Norwegian regulated market to, within four weeks, make an unconditional general offer for the purchase of the remaining shares in that issuer. A mandatory offer obligation may also be triggered where a party acquires the right to become the owner of shares that, together with the party's own shareholding, represent more than one-third of the voting rights in the issuer and Oslo Børs decides that this is regarded as an effective acquisition of the shares in question.
The mandatory offer obligation ceases to apply if the person, entity or consolidated group sells the portion of the shares that exceeds the relevant threshold within four weeks of the date on which the mandatory offer obligation was triggered.
When a mandatory offer obligation is triggered, the person subject to the obligation is required to immediately notify Oslo Børs and the issuer in question accordingly. The notification is required to state whether an offer will be made to acquire the remaining shares in the issuer or whether a sale will take place. As a rule, a notification to the effect that an offer will be made cannot be retracted. The offer is subject to approval by Oslo Børs before the offer is submitted to the shareholders or made public.
The offer price per share must be at least as high as the highest price paid or agreed to be paid by the offeror for the shares in the six-month period prior to the date the threshold was exceeded. If the acquirer acquires or agrees to acquire additional shares at a higher price prior to the expiration of the mandatory offer period, the acquirer is required to restate its offer at such higher price. A mandatory offer must be in cash or contain a cash alternative at least equivalent to any other consideration offered.
In case of failure to make a mandatory offer or to sell the portion of the shares that exceeds the relevant mandatory offer threshold within four weeks, Oslo Børs may force the acquirer to sell the shares exceeding the threshold by public auction. Moreover, a shareholder who fails to make an offer may not, as long as the mandatory offer obligation remains in unfulfilled, exercise rights in the issuer, such as voting on shares at general meetings of the issuer's shareholders, without the consent of a majority of the remaining shareholders. The shareholder may, however, exercise its rights to dividends and pre-emption rights in the event of a share capital increase. If the shareholder neglects his duty to make a mandatory offer, Oslo Børs may impose a cumulative daily fine that accrues until the circumstance has been rectified.
Any person, entity or consolidated group that owns shares representing more than onethird of the votes in a Norwegian issuer with its shares listed on a Norwegian regulated market is required to make an offer to purchase the remaining shares of the issuer (repeated offer obligation) if the person, entity or consolidated group through acquisition becomes the owner of shares representing 40% or more of the votes in the issuer. The same applies correspondingly if the person, entity or consolidated group through acquisition becomes the owner of shares representing 50% or more of the votes in the issuer. The mandatory offer obligation ceases to apply if the person, entity or consolidated group sells the portion of the shares which exceeds the relevant threshold within four weeks of the date on which the mandatory offer obligation was triggered.
Any person, entity or consolidated group that has passed any of the above mentioned thresholds in such a way as not to trigger the mandatory bid obligation, and has therefore not previously made an offer for the remaining shares in the company in accordance with the mandatory offer rules is, as a main rule, required to make a mandatory offer in the event of a subsequent acquisition of shares in the company.
Should any minority shareholder not accept the offered price, such minority shareholder may, within a specified deadline of not less than two months, request that the price be set by a Norwegian court. The cost of such court procedure will, as a general rule, be the responsibility of the majority shareholder, and the relevant court will have full discretion in determining the consideration to be paid to the minority shareholder as a result of the compulsory acquisition.
Absent a request for a Norwegian court to set the price, or any other objection to the price being offered in a compulsory acquisition, the minority shareholders would be deemed to have accepted the offered price after the expiry of the specified deadline for raising objections to the price offered in the compulsory acquisition.
There are currently no foreign exchange control restrictions in Norway that would potentially restrict the payment of dividends to a shareholder outside Norway, and there are currently no restrictions that would affect the right of shareholders of a Norwegian issuer who are not residents in Norway to dispose of their shares and receive the proceeds from a disposal outside Norway. There is no maximum transferable amount either to or from Norway, although transferring banks are required to submit reports on foreign currency exchange transactions into and out of Norway into a central data register maintained by the Norwegian customs and excise authorities. The Norwegian police, tax authorities, customs and excise authorities, the National Insurance Administration and the Norwegian FSA have electronic access to the data in this register.
This discussion is based on current law and practice that may be subject to amendments. Such amendments could be effective on a retroactive basis. The discussion is intended to serve as a general guideline, and does not provide a complete description of all relevant issues (e.g., for investors for whom special laws, rules or regulations may be applicable). Investors are advised to contact their professional tax advisors for advice concerning individual tax consequences.
The following information, which relates only to United Kingdom taxation, is applicable to the Company and to persons who are resident (and, in the case of individuals only, ordinarily resident and domiciled) solely in the United Kingdom and who beneficially own shares in the Company as investments and not as securities to be realised in the course of a trade. The following statements are intended to apply only as a general guide to the position under current United Kingdom tax law and HM Revenue & Customs practice at the date of this prospectus. Investors should note that tax law and interpretation can change (possibly with retrospective effect) and that, in particular, the levels, basis of and reliefs from taxation may change. Such changes may alter the benefits of investment in the Company.
The information is not exhaustive and potential investors:
should consult their professional advisers without delay.
It is the intention of the Directors to conduct the affairs of the Company so that it is resident in the UK for tax purposes and is not tax resident in any other jurisdiction. The Company will be subject to UK corporation tax on its worldwide profits, subject to any tax reliefs that may be available in respect of non-UK taxes paid.
The Company will not be required to withhold tax at source in respect of any dividends it pays.
7.5%, to the extent that such amount falls below the threshold for the higher rate of UK income tax;
32.5%, to the extent that such amount falls above the threshold for the higher rate of UK income tax but below the threshold for the additional rate of UK income tax; and
The Company's shares should be eligible for inclusion in a stocks and shares ISA.
The Company's shares should constitute permitted investments for SIPPs.
The following comments are intended as a guide to the general United Kingdom stamp duty and SDRT position and do not relate to persons such as market makers, brokers, dealers, intermediaries and persons connected with depositary arrangements or clearance services, to whom special rules apply.
The Company does not intend that investors will be able to hold the Company's shares other than by way of depositary interests traded through the VPS in accordance with paragraph 12.4 of this Prospectus, therefore this paragraph does not cover the tax treatment of transfers of any Shares in certificated form.
For UK tax purposes, if the depositary interests are considered to be interests in depositary receipts rather than interests in the underlying Shares, then:
If instead the interests transferred within the VPS are considered to be beneficial interests in the Shares, then:
Finally, there is a share lending arrangement in place with Awilhelmsen Offshore AS in respect of the delivery of the Private Placement Shares in accordance with paragraph 14.3 of this Prospectus. Provided that this transfer is effected in book-entry form within the VPS the Stamp Duty and SDRT treatment should be in accordance with paragraphs (B) and (D) above.
The following is a summary of certain Norwegian tax considerations relevant to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of shares by holders that are residents of Norway for purposes of Norwegian taxation ("Resident Shareholders").
The summary is based on applicable Norwegian laws, rules and regulations as they exist in force as of the date of this Prospectus. Such laws, rules and regulations may be subject to changes after this date, possibly on a retroactive basis for the same tax year. The summary is of a general nature and does not purport to be a comprehensive description of all the tax considerations that may be relevant to the shareholders and does not address foreign tax laws.
As will be evident from the description, the taxation will differ depending on whether the investor is a limited liability company or a natural person. As of the date of this Prospectus, Brexit has not yet occurred. A hard Brexit, i.e. a Brexit without any form of exit-agreement, will entail that the UK is no longer part of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), with the consequence that certain specific advantageous tax rules reserved for investments within the EEA (i.a. the Norwegian participation exemption) should no longer be applicable. Each shareholder should consult their own tax advisors for information with respect to the special tax consequences that may arise for him or her and the applicability and effect of any Norwegian or foreign tax laws and possible changes in such laws.
Please note that special rules apply for shareholders that cease to be tax resident in Norway or that for some reason are no longer considered taxable to Norway in relation to their shareholding, shares that are held in connection with an employment, etc.
For the purpose of the summary below, a reference to a Norwegian shareholder or company refers to tax residency rather than nationality.
Resident Shareholders being natural persons ("Personal Resident Shareholders") are in general tax liable to Norway for their worldwide income. Dividends distributed to Personal Resident Shareholders are taxable to the extent the dividends exceed a statutory tax-free allowance (Norwegian: Skjermingsfradrag). Dividends distributed to Personal Resident Shareholders are taxed at a rate of 22%, however, based on a tax base adjusted upwards by a factor of 1.44, thus implying an effective tax rate of 31.68% (2019).
The tax-free allowance is calculated on a share by share basis, and is equal to the tax purchase price of the share multiplied with a determined risk free interest rate based on the effective rate, after tax, of interest on treasury bills (Norwegian: Statskasseveksler) with three months maturity with the addition of 0.5 percentage points. The allowance is allocated to the shareholder owning the share on 31 December in the relevant income year. Personal Resident Shareholders who transfer shares during an income year will thus not be entitled to deduct any calculated allowance related to the year of transfer. The Directorate of Taxes announces the risk free-interest rate in January the year after the income year. The risk-free interest rate for income year 2018 was 1.1%. The risk-free interest rate for 2019 will be published mid-January 2020.
Any part of the calculated allowance one year exceeding the dividend distributed on the share the same year ("unused allowance") is added to the tax input value of the share and included in the basis for calculating the allowance the following year, and may also be carried forward and set off against future dividends received on the same share.
Any repayment of paid-up share capital and paid-up share premium of each share is not regarded as dividend for tax purposes and thus not subject to tax. Such repayment will lead to a reduction of the tax input value of the shares corresponding to the repayment.
Resident Shareholders being corporations and the like (i.e. limited liability companies, mutual funds, savings banks, mutual insurance companies or similar entities resident in Norway for tax purposes) ("Corporate Resident Shareholders") are generally exempt from tax on dividends received on shares in Norwegian limited liability companies, hereunder public limited companies, and similar entities resident in the EEA, pursuant to the Norwegian participation exemption method (Norwegian: Fritaksmetoden).
However, unless the shareholder owns more than 90% of the shares in the distributing company, 3 percent of all tax-free income under the participation exemption method shall be entered as general income and taxed at the ordinary tax rate of 22% (2019), implying that dividends distributed from the Company to the Corporate Resident Shareholder are effectively taxed at a rate of 0.66% (2019).
The repayment of paid-up share capital and paid-up share premium on each share is not regarded as dividend for tax purposes and thus not subject to tax.
Partnerships are as a general rule transparent for Norwegian tax purposes (some exceptions apply). Taxation occurs at partner level, and each partner, resident in Norway for tax purpose, is taxed on a current basis for its proportional share of the net income generated by the partnership.
However, dividends from shares covered by the participation exemption method is not included in basis for taxation of the partner's proportional share of the net income generated by the partnership, but are treated as income under the participation exemption method. Thus, 3% of tax-free net income under the participation exemption method shall be entered as general income and taxed at the ordinary tax rate, regardless of whether such income is distributed to the partners or not.
For partners who are Personal Resident Shareholders further taxation occurs when the dividends received are distributed from the partnership to such partners. Such distributions will be taxed as general income at a rate of 22%, however, based on a tax base adjusted upwards by a factor of 1.44, thus implying an effective tax rate of 31.68% (2019). The Personal Resident Shareholders will be entitled to deduct a calculated allowance when calculating their taxable income.
Corporate Resident Shareholders holding shares through a partnership will be exempt from further taxation of their proportional part of dividends received and distributed by the partnership.
Dividends received from UK companies by a personal shareholder not resident in Norway for tax purposes, is not subject to taxation in Norway unless the personal shareholder (i) holds the shares in connection with business activities conducted in or managed from Norway.
Dividends received from UK companies by a corporate shareholder not resident in Norway for tax purposes, is not subject to taxation in Norway, unless the shares are held in connection with business activities conducted in or managed from Norway, whereby the shareholder is taxed in the same way as a similar Corporate Resident Shareholder.
According to the treaty between the UK and Norway for the avoidance of double taxation, UK may impose withholding tax on dividends distributed to Resident Shareholders. The dividend distribution shall be tax exempt if (i) the beneficial owner of the dividends is a company that holds directly at least 15 percent of the capital of the company paying the dividends, or (ii) the beneficial owner is a Resident Shareholder who is a partner in a Norwegian partnership and alone or together with other such partners holds directly at least 15 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividend. In all other cases the withholding tax shall not exceed fifteen percent.
If the dividends are covered by the participation exemption and the Corporate Resident Shareholder is liable to limited taxation of 3 percent of the income (see above), the shareholder will not be entitled to tax credit.
In all other cases, a Norwegian shareholder should be entitled to a tax credit in Norway for withholding tax imposed in UK. The credit amount may not exceed the tax actually paid in UK or the tax paid in Norway on that same income.
Personal Resident Shareholders are taxable in Norway for capital gains upon the realisation of shares, and have a corresponding right to deduct losses that arise upon such realisation. The tax liability applies irrespective of time of ownership and the number of shares realised. Gains are taxable as ordinary income in the year of realisation, and losses can be deducted from ordinary income in the year of realisation. Income from shares (gains and losses) distributed to Personal Resident Shareholders are taxed at a rate of 22%, however, based on a tax base adjusted upwards by a factor of 1.44, thus implying an effective tax rate of 31.68% (2019).
The taxable gain or loss is calculated per share as the difference between the consideration received and the cost price of the share, including any costs incurred in relation to the acquisition or realisation of the share. Any unused allowance on a share (ref. above) may be set off against capital gains related to the realisation of the same share, but may not lead to or increase a deductible loss, i.e., any unused allowance exceeding the capital gain upon the realisation of the share will be lost. Furthermore, unused allowance may not be set off against gains from realisation of other shares.
If a Personal Resident Shareholder disposes of shares acquired at different times, the shares that were first acquired will be deemed as first sold (the FIFO-principle) when calculating a taxable gain or loss.
A Personal Resident Shareholder, who moves abroad and ceases to be tax resident in Norway as a result of this, will be deemed taxable in Norway for any potential gain of NOK 500.000 or more, on the shares held at the time the tax residency ceased, as if the shares were realised at that time. Gains of NOK 500,000 or less are though not taxable. If such gains exceed NOK 500,000, a deferral of the tax payment may be granted, provided that satisfactory guarantee is given. The payment may be postponed if adequate security is provided. If the shareholder moves to a jurisdiction within the European Economic Area (EEA), a deferral of the payment of the taxes might be granted without such guarantee, provided that Norway, pursuant to a treaty, can request information from the other jurisdiction regarding the person's income- and wealth, and assistance in relation to the collection of taxes. Losses on shares, held at the time tax residency ceases will, to the same extent as a gain would be taxable, be tax deductible to the same extent as a gain would be taxable, if the shareholder moves to a jurisdiction within the EEA. In such case the loss is determined in the year of the emigration, but the taxation (loss deduction) will occur at the time the shares are actually sold or otherwise disposed of. The tax liability calculated under these provisions may be reduced if the value of the shares at the time of the realisation is less than the value at the time of the emigration, or if the gain is regarded taxable in another jurisdiction. If the shares are not realised within five years after the shareholder ceased to be resident in Norway for tax purposes, the tax liability described above will not apply. Any tax treaty in force between Norway and the state to which the shareholder has moved may influence the application of these rules.
Corporate Resident Shareholders are generally exempt from tax on capital gains upon the realisation of shares in Norwegian limited liability companies, hereunder public limited companies, or similar companies tax resident within the EEA. Losses upon the realisation and costs incurred in connection with the purchase and realisation of such shares are not deductible for tax purposes.
Capital gains from redemption or realisation of shares in a company tax resident in what is deemed a low-tax jurisdictions within the EEA, the Norwegian participation exemption method only applies to the extent is deemed to be genuinely established in the relevant jurisdiction and conducts real business activities there.
Partnerships are as a general rule transparent for Norwegian tax purposes (some exceptions apply). Taxation occurs at partner level, and each partner, resident in Norway for tax purposes, is taxed on a current basis for its proportional share of the net income generated by the partnership.
However, capital gains from shares covered by the participation exemption method is not included in basis for taxation of the partner's proportional share of the net income generated by the partnership, but are treated as income under the participation exemption method.
For partners who are Personal Resident Shareholders further taxation occurs when the capital gains received are distributed from the partnership to such partners. Such distributions will be taxed at a rate of 22%, however, based on a tax base adjusted upwards by a factor of 1.44, thus implying an effective tax rate of 31.68% (2019).The Personal Resident Shareholders will be entitled to deduct a calculated allowance when calculating their taxable income.
Corporate Resident Shareholders holding shares through a partnership will be exempt from further taxation of their proportional part of capital gains received and distributed by the partnership.
Capital gains derived from realization of shares in UK companies by a personal shareholder not resident in Norway for tax purposes, is not subject to taxation in Norway unless the personal shareholder (i) holds the shares in connection with business activities conducted in or managed from Norway or (ii) has been a tax resident of Norway within the five calendar years preceding the year of the sale or disposition and whose gains are not exempt pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty, whereby the shareholder is taxed in the same way as a similar Personal Resident Shareholder, reference is made to Section 13.2.2.1 above.
Capital gains derived from realization of shares in UK companies by a corporate shareholder not resident in Norway for tax purposes, is not subject to taxation in Norway, unless the shares are held in connection with business activities conducted in or managed from Norway and the gains are not exempt pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty, whereby the shareholder is taxed in the same way as a similar Corporate Resident Shareholder.
According to the treaty between the UK and Norway for the avoidance of double taxation, a Norwegian shareholder may only be taxed in Norway for capital gains derived from shares in companies resident in UK.
If the Norwegian shareholder is liable to tax in UK, a Norwegian shareholder will be entitled to a tax credit in Norway for tax imposed in UK. The credit amount may not exceed the tax actually paid in UK or the tax paid in Norway on that same income.
Norwegian limited liability companies and certain similar entities are exempt from Norwegian net wealth tax.
For other Personal Resident Shareholders, shares will form part of their basis for calculation of Norwegian net wealth tax. Listed shares are valued at 80 percent of their quoted value as of 1 January in the assessment year (the year following the income year). The current marginal wealth tax rate is 0.85 percent.
Foreign shareholders are not subject to net wealth tax in Norway on shares in UK companies unless the holding of the shares are effectively connected with business activities conducted in or managed from Norway.
No stamp or similar duties are currently imposed in Norway on the transfer or issuance of shares.
Norway does not impose inheritance tax on assignment of shares by way of inheritance or gift. However, the heir acquires the donor's tax input value of the shares based on principles of continuity. Thus, the heir will be taxable for any increase in value in the donor's ownership, at the time of the heir's realisation of the shares.
On 11 March 2019, the Company announced a fully subscribed Private Placement of 5,550,000 Private Placement Shares at a subscription price of NOK 31.80 per Private Placement Share, for gross proceeds of approximately USD 20 million.
The Private Placement was directed towards investors subject to applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus requirements (i) outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S ("Regulation S") under the U.S. Securities Act, and (ii) inside the United States to "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A ("Rule 144A") under the U.S. Securities Act.
The proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to part finance the equity requirement for the building of the new semi-submersible drilling rig for hash environment use, to be built by the yard Keppel FELS in Singapore at a price of approximately USD 425 million, with planned delivery in March 2022. Please refer to Section 6.4.3 for a description of the newbuild contract, the declared option and the payment terms for the rig.
On 10 March 2019, the Board of Directors of the Company passed the resolution to increase the share capital of the Company through the Private Placement with GBP 36,075 by approving the issuance of 5,550,500 new shares, in accordance with the authority granted by the Company's general meeting on 6 June 2018.
The existing shareholders' preferential rights to subscribe for the Private Placement Shares were set aside in order to allow for the Private Placement. The Board of Directors had considered alternative structures for the raising of new equity. After due consideration, the Board of Directors was of the view that the Private Placement was in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders since it would allow the Company to raise capital more efficiently, at a lower discount and with lower transaction costs than in a rights offering. The beneficiaries of the Private Placement and the restriction of the existing shareholders' preferential rights were consequently the investors which were invited to subscribe for the Private Placement Shares.
The share capital increase carried out in connection with the Private Placement was registered on 14 March 2019 and delivery of the Private Placement Shares to the investors took place on 14 March 2019.
The Private Placement Shares are ordinary Shares in the Company having a par value of GBP 0.0065 each and are issued electronically in registered form in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
The Private Placement Shares were allocated to Awilhelmsen Offshore AS in the Private Placement. The Company, the Managers and Awilhelmsen Offshore AS entered into a share lending agreement on 11 March 2019 in order to facilitate delivery of the shares issued in the Private Placement on a delivery versus payment basis. As a result, the Private Placement was settled with existing and unencumbered Shares in the Company and the shares were therefore tradable on Oslo Børs upon delivery. The Private Placement Shares delivered to Awilhelmsen Offshore will not be listed on Oslo Børs until publication of this Prospectus.
The Private Placement Shares were issued on 14 March 2019 and have been registered with the VPS under a blocked VPS account until the publication of this Prospectus. As from 6 June 2019, the blocking of the VPS account will be lifted and the Private Placement Shares will be freely transferable. The Private Placement Shares are registered in bookentry form with the VPS under the Company's ISIN number GB00B5LJSC86. The Private Placement Shares will be listed on Oslo Børs on or about 6 June 2019.
The Private Placement Shares rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Shares of the Company and carry full shareholder rights in the Company.
The Private Placement Shares are eligible for any dividends which the Company may declare. All Shares, including the Private Placement Shares, will have voting rights and other rights and obligations which are standard under the laws of England and Wales, and are governed by English law. See Section 11 "Corporate information and description of share capital" for a further discussion of the rights attaching to the Shares.
For information on taxes on the income from the Shares, please refer to Section 13 above. The Company assumes responsibility for the withholding of taxes at the source according to Norwegian law.
The Company's share capital following the completion of the Private Placement is GBP 354,779.75 divided into 54,581,500 Shares of a par value of GBP 0.0065 each.
ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Munkedamsveien 45E, 0250 Oslo, Norway, Fearnley Securities AS, Grev Wedels Plass 9, 0151 Oslo Norway and Clarksons Platou Securities AS, Munkedamsveien 62C, 0270 Oslo Norway, have acted as Managers in the Private Placement. Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS, Dokkveien 1, 0250 Oslo, Norway is acting as legal advisor to the Company.
The total expenses of the Private Placement were estimated to amount to approximately USD 0.50 million.
No lock-up agreements were entered into in connection with the Private Placement.
The Managers or its affiliates have provided from time to time, and may provide in the future, investment and commercial banking services to the Company and its affiliates in the ordinary course of business, for which they may have received and may continue to receive customary fees and commissions. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investments or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so. The Managers received a management fee in connection with the Private Placement and, as such, had an interest in the Private Placement. The management fee was a fixed percent amount.
Beyond the above-mentioned, the Company is not aware of any interest, including conflicting ones, of any natural or legal persons involved in the Private Placement.
The Private Placement resulted in an immediate dilution of approximately 11% for the existing shareholders who did not participate in the Private Placement.
The following table sets forth an overview of documents incorporated by reference in this Prospectus. No information other that the information referred to in the table below is incorporated by reference. Where parts of a document is referenced, and not the document as a whole, the remainder of such document is either deemed irrelevant to an investor in the context of the requirements if this Prospectus, or the corresponding information is covered elsewhere in this Prospectus.
| Section in Prospectus |
Disclosure Requirement of the Prospectus |
Reference document and link |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8.3 | Accounting policies | Annual Report 2018: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Awilco Drilling-PLC-31-December-2018-signed.pdf Annual Report 2017: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Awilco Drilling-PLC-31-December-2017-FINAL-fully-signed.pdf Annual Report 2016: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Awilco Drilling-PLC-Annual-Report-31-December-2016_attachment-1.pdf |
| Sections 8.4- 8.7 |
Historical financial information |
Annual Report 2018: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Awilco Drilling-PLC-31-December-2018-signed.pdf Annual Report 2017: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Awilco Drilling-PLC-31-December-2017-FINAL-fully-signed.pdf Annual Report 2016: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Awilco Drilling-PLC-Annual-Report-31-December-2016_attachment-1.pdf First Quarter Report 2019: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Q1-2019- report-AWDR-Final.pdf First Quarter Report 2018: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Q1-2018- report-AWDR-FINAL.pdf |
| Section 10.5.3 | Pension and retirement benefits |
Annual Report 2018: https://awilcodrilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Awilco Drilling-PLC-31-December-2018-signed.pdf |
Copies of the following documents will be available for inspection at the Company's offices during normal business hours from Monday to Friday each week (except public holidays) for a period of twelve months from the date of this Prospectus.
December 2018, 2017 and 2016.
• This Prospectus.
The following definitions and glossary apply in this Prospectus unless otherwise dictated by the context, including the foregoing pages of this Prospectus.
| 2010 PD Amending Directive |
Directive 2010/73/EU amending the Prospectus Directive. |
|---|---|
| Anti-Money Laundering Legislation |
The Norwegian Money Laundering Act of 1 June 2018 no. 23 and the Norwegian Money Laundering Regulations of 14 September 2018 no. 1324. |
| Articles of Association | The articles of association of the Company. |
| Audited Financial Statements |
The Company's audited consolidated financial statements as of, and for the years ended, 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016. |
| Awilco Drilling | Awilco Drilling Plc or the Company. |
| Awilco Drilling Plc | The Company. |
| Awilhelmsen | Awilhelmsen Offshore AS. |
| Board Members | The members of the Board of Directors. |
| Board or Board of Directors |
The board of directors of the Company. |
| CEO | The Company's chief executive officer. |
| CET | Central European time. |
| COFTA | The Norwegian Central Office for Foreign Tax Affairs. |
| The Company | Awilco Drilling Plc. |
| Corporate Resident Shareholders |
Resident Shareholders being corporations and the like (i.e. limited liability companies, mutual funds, savings banks, mutual insurance companies or similar entities resident in Norway for tax purposes). |
| E&P | Exploration and production. |
| EEA | The European Economic Area. |
| EU | The European Union. |
| Forward-looking statements |
All statements other than statements as to historic facts or present facts and circumstances, typically indicated by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," and similar expressions. |
| FY2016 | The period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016. |
| FY2017 | The period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017. |
| FY2018 | The period from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018. |
|---|---|
| General Meeting | The Company's general meeting of shareholders. |
| Group | The Company and its subsidiaries. |
| HE | Harsh environment. |
| IAS 34 | International Accounting Standard 34 Financial Reports. |
| IFRS | International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU. |
| Interim Financial Statements |
The Company's unaudited interim financial statements as of, and for the three month period ended 31 March 2018. |
| ISIN | International Securities Identification Number in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS). |
| IT | Information technology. |
| Listing | The listing of the Private Placement Shares on Oslo Børs. |
| Management | The Group's senior management team. |
| Managers | ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Fearnley Securities AS and Clarksons Platou Securities AS. |
| MODU's | Mobile Offshore Drilling Units. |
| MW | Mid-water. |
| NCS | The Norwegian Continental Shelf. |
| Nil Rate Amount | No income tax is payable on the first GBP 2,000 of dividend income for the tax year 2018-2019. |
| NOK | Norwegian Kroner, the lawful currency of Norway. |
| Non-Norwegian shareholders |
Shareholders who are not resident in Norway for tax purposes. |
| Norwegian Code | The Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance dated 17 October 2018. |
| Norwegian FSA | The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Norwegian: "Finanstilsynet"). |
| Norwegian corporate shareholders |
Shareholders who are limited liability companies and certain similar corporate entities resident in Norway for tax purposes. |
| Norwegian personal shareholders |
Personal shareholders resident in Norway for tax purposes. |
| Order | The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 as amended. |
| Oslo Børs | Oslo Børs ASA or, as the context may require, Oslo Børs, a Norwegian regulated stock exchange operated by Oslo Børs ASA. |
|---|---|
| PDO's | Plans for Development and Operation. |
| Personal Resident Shareholders |
Resident Shareholders being natural persons. |
| Private Placement | The private placement by the Company of 5,550,000 new Shares announced on 8 March 2019. |
| Private Placement Shares | The 5,550,000 new shares issued in the Private Placement. |
| Prospectus | This prospectus. |
| Prospectus Directive | Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the Relevant Member State) and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State. |
| Q1 2019 | The period from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019. |
| QHSE | Quality, Health, Safety and Environment. |
| QIBs | Qualified institutional buyers, as defined in Rule 144A. |
| Record Date | As of expiry of 12 March 2019. |
| Regulation S | Regulation S in the U.S. Securitites Act. |
| Relevant Member State | Each Member State of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive. |
| Relevant Persons | Persons to whom distributions may otherwise lawfully be made. |
| Resident Shareholders | Holders of shares that are residents of Norway for purposes of Norwegian taxation. |
| Rule 144A | Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act. |
| SDRT | Stamp Duty Reserve Tax. |
| Securities Trading Act | The Norwegian Securities Trading Act of 29 June 2007 no. 75 (Norwegian: "Verdipapirhandelloven"). |
| SFA | The Securities and Futures Act of Singapore. |
| Share(s) | Shares in the share capital of the Company, each with a nominal value of GBP 00.0065 or any one of them. |
| SPS | Special Periodic Surveys. |
| Subscription Price | The price at which the Offer Shares are being offered, NOK 31.80. |
| UK | United Kingdom. |
| UK Code | UK Code of Corporate Governance. |
|---|---|
| UKCS | The United Kingdom Continental Shelf. |
| USD | United States Dollar, the lawful currency of the United States of America. |
| VPS | Norwegian Central Securities Depository. |
| VPS Registrar | DNB Bank ASA, registrars department, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, 0191 Oslo, Norway. |
| VPS Shareholders | Investors holding Shares through the VPS. |
Company No: 7114196
THE COMPANIES ACTS 1985 TO 2006
______________________________________________
OF
(As adopted by Special Resolution passed on 13 April 2011)
STEPHENSON HARWOOD One, St Paul's Churchyard London EC4M 8SH Tel: 020 7329 4422 Fax: 020 7329 7100 Ref: A1680/01-48-02883
| PART 1 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| INTERPRETATION AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 1 | ||
| 1 | Defined terms 1 | |
| PART 2 4 | ||
| DIRECTORS 4 | ||
| Directors' Powers and Responsibilities 4 | ||
| 2 | Directors' general authority 4 | |
| 3 | Number of directors 5 | |
| 4 | Members' reserve power 5 | |
| 5 | Directors may delegate 5 | |
| 6 | Committees 5 | |
| Decision-Making by directors 6 | ||
| 7 | Directors to take decisions collectively 6 | |
| 8 | Calling a directors' meeting 6 | |
| 9 | Participation in directors' meetings 7 | |
| 10 | Quorum for directors' meetings 7 | |
| 11 | Meetings where total number of directors less than quorum 7 | |
| 12 | Chairing directors' meetings 8 | |
| 13 | Voting at directors' meetings: general rules 8 | |
| 14 | Chairman's casting vote at directors' meetings 9 | |
| 15 | Alternates voting at directors' meetings 9 | |
| 16 | Conflicts of interest 9 | |
| 17 | Proposing directors' written resolutions 10 | |
| 18 | Adoption of directors' written resolutions 11 | |
| 19 | Telephone board meeting 11 | |
| 20 | Directors' discretion to make further rules 12 | |
| Appointment of directors 12 | ||
| 21 | Methods of appointing directors 12 | |
| 22 | Retirement of directors by rotation 12 | |
| 23 | Termination of director's appointment 13 | |
| 24 | Directors' remuneration 14 | |
| 25 | Directors' expenses 14 | |
| Alternate directors 15 | ||
| 26 | Appointment and removal of alternates 15 | |
| 27 | Rights and responsibilities of alternate directors 15 | |
| 28 | Termination of alternate directorship 16 | |
| 29 | Power to borrow money 17 | |
| Secretary 17 | ||
| 30 | Secretary 17 | |
| PART 3 17 | ||
| DECISION-MAKING BY MEMBERS 17 | ||
| Organisation of General Meetings 17 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Members can call general meeting if not enough directors 17 | |
| 32 | Attendance and speaking at general meetings 17 | |
| 33 | Quorum for general meetings 18 | |
| 34 | Chairing general meetings 18 | |
| 35 | Attendance and speaking by directors and non-members | 19 |
| 36 | Adjournment 19 | |
| Voting at General Meetings 20 | ||
| 37 | Voting: general 20 | |
| 38 | Errors and disputes 20 | |
| 39 | Demanding a poll 20 | |
| 40 | Procedure on a poll 21 | |
| 41 | Proxies 22 | |
| 42 | Content of Proxy Notices 22 | |
| 43 | Delivery of Proxy Notices 23 | |
| 44 | Amendments to resolutions 24 | |
| Restrictions on Members' Rights 25 | ||
| 45 | No voting of shares on which money owed to Company 25 | |
| Application of Rules to Class Meetings 25 | ||
| 46 | Class meetings 25 | |
| PART 4 25 | ||
| SHARES AND DISTRIBUTIONS 25 | ||
| Issue of Shares 25 | ||
| 47 | Powers to issue different classes of share 25 | |
| 48 | Allotment at a discount 26 | |
| 49 | Payment of commissions on subscription for shares 27 | |
| Interests in Shares 27 | ||
| 50 | Purchase of shares 27 | |
| 51 | Financial assistance 27 | |
| 52 | Power to reduce capital 27 | |
| 53 | Company not bound by less than absolute interests 27 | |
| Shares not held in Certificated Form 28 | ||
| 54 | Uncertificated shares 28 | |
| Share Certificates 29 | ||
| 55 | Share certificates to be issued except in certain cases 29 | |
| 56 | Consolidated share certificates 31 | |
| 57 | Replacement share certificates 31 | |
| 58 | ||
| Share warrants 32 | ||
| 59 | Variation of class rights 33 | |
| 60 | Issues of further shares 34 | |
| Lien on Shares 34 | ||
| 61 62 |
Lien on partly paid shares 34 Enforcement of lien 34 |
| Call on Shares 35 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 63 | Calls 35 | |
| 64 | Interest on calls 36 | |
| 65 | Sums treated as calls 36 | |
| 66 | Power to differentiate 36 | |
| 67 | Payment of calls in advance 36 | |
| Forfeiture on Shares 37 | ||
| 68 | Notice of unpaid calls 37 | |
| 69 | Forfeiture on non compliance with notice 37 | |
| 70 | Power to annul forfeiture or surrender 37 | |
| 71 | Disposal of forfeited or surrendered shares 38 | |
| 72 | Arrears to be paid notwithstanding forfeiture or surrender 38 | |
| Transfer and Transmission of Shares 39 | ||
| 73 | Transfers of certificated shares 39 | |
| 74 | Transfer of uncertificated shares 40 | |
| 75 | Transmission of shares 40 | |
| 76 | Transmittees' rights 40 | |
| 77 | Exercise of transmittees' rights 41 | |
| 78 | Transmittees bound by prior notices 41 | |
| DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS IN SHARES 41 | ||
| 79 | Disclosure of interests in shares 41 | |
| Consolidation of Shares 44 | ||
| 80 | Fraction of shares 44 | |
| 81 | Procedure for disposing of fractions of shares 44 | |
| Distributions 45 | ||
| 82 | Procedure for declaring dividends 45 | |
| 83 | Calculation of dividends 46 | |
| 84 | Payment of dividends and other distributions 46 | |
| 85 | Deductions from distributions in respect of sums owed to the Company 47 | |
| 86 | No interest on distributions 48 | |
| 87 | Unclaimed distributions 48 | |
| 88 | Non-cash distributions 49 | |
| 89 | Waiver of distributions 49 | |
| Record Dates 50 | ||
| 90 | Fixing of record dates 50 | |
| Accounts 50 | ||
| 91 | Accounting records 50 | |
| Notices 50 | ||
| 92 | Form of notices 50 | |
| 93 | Manner of giving notices 51 | |
| 94 | Notice in event failure of postal services 53 | |
| 95 | When notice is deemed given 54 | |
| 96 | Record date for giving notices 55 | |
| 97 | Notice to person entitled by transmission 56 |
| Untraced Members 56 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 98 | Sale of shares of untraced members 56 | |
| 99 | Application of proceeds of sale 57 | |
| Capitalisation of Profits 58 | ||
| 100 | Capitalisation of reserves 58 | |
| 101 | Capitalisation of reserves – employees' share schemes 59 | |
| PART 5 60 | ||
| MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 60 | ||
| Communications 60 | ||
| 102 | Means of communication to be used 60 | |
| 103 | Failure to notify contact details 60 | |
| Administrative Arrangements 61 | ||
| 104 | Seal 61 | |
| 105 | Destruction of documents 62 | |
| 106 | No right to inspect accounts and other records 63 | |
| 107 | Provision for employees on cessation of business 63 | |
| Directors' Indemnity and Insurance 64 | ||
| 108 | Indemnity of directors 64 | |
| 109 | Indemnity for qualifying pension scheme 64 | |
| 110 | Funds incurred in officer's defence 64 | |
| 111 | Limited Liability 64 | |
| 112 | Insurance 65 | |
| Winding Up 65 | ||
| 113 | Distribution of assets 65 |
In the articles, unless the context requires otherwise-
"alternate" or "alternate director" has the meaning given in article 26;
"appointor" has the meaning given in article 26;
"these articles" means these articles of association of the Company, as from time to time altered;
"bankruptcy" includes individual insolvency proceedings in a jurisdiction other than England and Wales or Northern Ireland which have an effect similar to that of bankruptcy;
"board" means the board of directors for the time being of the Company;
"call" has the meaning given in article 63;
"certificate" means a paper certificate (other than a share warrant) evidencing a person's title to specified shares or other securities;
"certificated" in relation to a share, means that it is not an uncertificated share or a share in respect of which a share warrant has been issued and is current;
"Chairman" has the meaning given in article 12;
"Chairman of the meeting" has the meaning given in article 34;
"clear days" means, in relation to the period of a notice, that period excluding the day when the notice is given or deemed to be given and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect;
"Company" means Awilco Drilling PLC;
"director" means a director for the time being of the Company;
"distribution recipient" has the meaning given in article 84;
"document" includes, unless otherwise specified, any document sent or supplied in electronic form;
"electronic form" has the meaning given in section 1168 of the Companies Act 2006;
"fully paid" in relation to a share, means that the nominal value and any premium to be paid to the Company in respect of that share have been paid to the Company;
"hard copy form" has the meaning given in section 1168 of the Companies Act 2006;
"holder" in relation to shares means the person whose name is entered in the register of members as the holder of the shares, or, in the case of a share in respect of which a share warrant has been issued (and not cancelled), the person in possession of that warrant;
"instrument" means a document in hard copy form;
"member" has the meaning given in section 112 of the Companies Act 2006;
"ordinary resolution" has the meaning given in section 282 of the Companies Act 2006;
"paid" means paid or credited as paid;
"participate" in relation to a directors' meeting, has the meaning given in article 9;
"partly paid" in relation to a share means that part of that share's nominal value or any premium at which it was issued has not been paid to the Company;
"Proxy Notice" has the meaning given in article 42;
"Regulations" means the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 3755) and any modification thereof or any regulations in substitution therefore for the time being in force;
"shares" means shares in the Company;
"Special Resolution" has the meaning given in section 283 of the Companies Act 2006;
"Statutes" means the Companies Acts, as defined by section 2 of the 2006 Act and every other statute, statutory instrument, regulation or order for the time being in force concerning companies and affecting the Company; and
"Subsidiary" has the meaning given in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006;
"transmittee" means a person entitled to a share by reason of the death or bankruptcy of a shareholder or otherwise by operation of law;
"uncertificated" in relation to a share means that, by virtue of legislation (other than section 778 of the Companies Act 2006) permitting title to shares to be evidenced and transferred without a certificate, title to that share is evidenced and may be transferred without a certificate; and
"writing" means the representation or reproduction of words, symbols or other information in a visible form by any method or combination of methods, whether sent or supplied in electronic form or otherwise.
or reproduced by mechanical or other means or any stamp or other distinctive marking made by or with the authority of the person required to sign the document to indicate it is approved by such person;
Subject to these articles, the directors are responsible for the management of the Company's business, for which purpose they may exercise all the powers of the Company but need not be a member of the Company.
The directors (other than alternate directors) shall not, unless otherwise determined by an ordinary resolution of the Company, be less than five nor more than eleven in number.
as they think fit.
(1) Committees to which the directors delegate any of their powers must follow procedures which are based as far as they are applicable on those provisions of these articles which govern the taking of decisions by directors.
(2) The directors may make rules of procedure for all or any committees, which prevail over rules derived from these articles if they are not consistent with them.
Decisions of the directors may be taken-
(b) if a directors' meeting is called but only one director attends at the appointed date and time to participate in it, that director may appoint sufficient directors to make up a quorum or call a general meeting or annual general meeting to do so.
(b) this does not preclude the alternate from voting in relation to that transaction or arrangement on behalf of another appointor who does not have such an interest.
A director who is also an alternate director has an additional vote on behalf of each appointor who is-
(a) the Company by ordinary resolution disapplies the provision of the articles which would otherwise prevent a director from being counted as participating in, or voting at, a directors' meeting;
(b) the director's interest cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest; or
(2) The Company secretary must propose a directors' written resolution if a director so requests.
(3) A directors' written resolution is proposed by giving notice of the proposed resolution to the directors.
(1) A board meeting may consist of a conference between directors some or all of whom are in different places provided that each director may participate in the business of the meeting whether directly, by telephone or by any other electronic means which enables him:
Subject to the articles, the directors may make any rule which they think fit about how they take decisions, and about how such rules are to be recorded or communicated to directors.
Any person who is willing to act as a director, either to fill a vacancy or as an additional director, and is permitted by law to do so, may be appointed to be a director-
(2) At every subsequent annual general meeting any directors-
(a) who have been appointed by ordinary resolution or the directors since the last annual general meeting, or
must retire from office and may offer themselves for reappointment by the members.
(3) A director may also be removed from office by notice to that effect signed by or on behalf of all the other directors (or their alternates).
The Company may pay any reasonable expenses which the directors properly incur in connection with their attendance at-
(c) separate meetings of the holders of any class of shares or of debentures of the Company, or otherwise in connection with the exercise of their powers and the discharge of their responsibilities in relation to the Company.
in relation to the taking of decisions by the directors in the absence of the alternate's appointor.
alternate that the proposed alternate is willing to act as the alternate of the director giving the notice.
(a) are deemed for all purposes to be directors;
(b) are liable for their own acts and omissions;
No alternate may be counted as more than one director for such purposes.
(4) An alternate director is not entitled to receive any remuneration from the Company for serving as an alternate director except such part of the alternate's appointor's remuneration as the appointor may direct by notice in writing made to the Company.
(1) The directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge all or any part of its undertaking, property and assets (both present and future) and uncalled capital and, subject to the Statutes, to issue debentures and other securities, whether outright or as collateral security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party.
Subject to the Statutes, the secretary shall be appointed by the board for such term, at such remuneration and on such conditions as it thinks fit, and the board may remove from office any person so appointed (without prejudice to any claim for damages for breach of any contract between him and the Company).
then two or more members may call a general meeting (or instruct the Company secretary to do so) for the purpose of appointing one or more directors.
(1) A person is able to exercise the right to speak at a general meeting when that person is in a position to communicate to all those attending the meeting, during the meeting, any information or opinions which that person has on the business of the meeting.
No business other than the appointment of the Chairman of the meeting is to be transacted at a general meeting if the persons attending it do not constitute a quorum, save as herein otherwise provided, two members present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote shall be a quorum.
(b) (if no directors are present), the general meeting,
must appoint a director or member to chair the meeting, and the appointment of the Chairman of the meeting must be the first business of the meeting.
(3) The person chairing a meeting in accordance with this article is referred to as "the Chairman of the meeting".
to attend and speak at a general meeting.
(4) When adjourning a general meeting, the Chairman of the meeting must-
(a) either specify the time and place to which it is adjourned or state that it is to continue at a time and place to be fixed by the directors, and
A resolution put to the vote of a general meeting must be decided on a show of hands unless a poll is duly demanded in accordance with the articles.
(a) in advance of the general meeting where it is to be put to the vote, or
(b) at a general meeting, either before a show of hands on that resolution or immediately after the result of a show of hands on that resolution is declared.
must be taken immediately.
(5) Other polls must be taken within thirty days of their being demanded.
(b) identifies the person appointed to be that member's proxy and the general meeting in relation to which that person is appointed;
(c) is signed by or on behalf of the member appointing the proxy, or is authenticated in such manner as the directors may determine; and
(3) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), a Proxy Notice must be delivered to a proxy notification address not less than 48 hours before the general meeting or adjourned meeting to which it relates.
(4) In the case of a poll taken more than 48 hours after it is demanded, the notice must be delivered to a proxy notification address not less than 24 hours before the time appointed for the taking of the poll.
(b) the proposed amendment does not, in the reasonable opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, materially alter the scope of the resolution.
(2) A Special Resolution to be proposed at a general meeting may be amended by ordinary resolution, if-
No voting rights attached to a share may be exercised at any general meeting, at any adjournment of it, or on any poll called at or in relation to it, unless all amounts payable to the Company in respect of that share have been paid.
The provisions of the articles relating to general meetings apply, with any necessary modifications, to meetings of the holders of any class of shares.
(1) Subject to the articles, but without prejudice to the rights attached to any existing share, the Company may issue shares with such rights (including preferred, deferred or other special rights) or such restrictions, whether in regard to dividend, voting, return of capital or otherwise as the Company may from time to time by ordinary resolution determine (or, in the absence of any such determination, as the directors may determine).
The shares of the Company shall not be allotted at a discount and save as permitted by the Statutes shall not be allotted except as paid up at least as to one-quarter of their nominal value and the whole of any premium thereon.
Subject to the provisions of the Statutes, the Company may purchase any of its own shares (including any redeemable shares).
The Company shall not give any financial assistance for the acquisition of shares in the Company except and in so far as permitted by the Statues.
Subject to the Statutes and to any rights conferred on the holders of any class of shares, the Company may by special resolution reduce its share capital, any capital redemption reserve, share premium account or redenomination reserve in any way.
Except as required by Statue or pursuant to the provisions of these articles, no person is to be recognised by the Company as holding any share upon any trust, and except as otherwise required by Statues or these articles, the Company is not bound by or compelled in any way to recognise (even when having notice thereof) any equitable, contingent, future or partial interest in any share or any interest in any fractional part of a share or any other rights in respect of any share except an absolute right to the entirety thereof in the registered holder.
the directors may take such action as is necessary or expedient to achieve the same results when exercising that power in relation to uncertificated shares.
delivery a certificate) upon becoming the holder of a certificated share and whose name is entered as a member on the Register shall be entitled without payment to receive within two months after allotment or lodgement of transfer (or within such other period as the conditions of issue shall provide) one certificate for all the certificated shares registered in his name.
(9) In respect of certificated shares of one class held jointly by more than one person the Company shall not be bound to issue more than one certificate, and delivery of a certificate for such shares to one of the joint holders of such shares shall be sufficient delivery to all such holders.
then upon proof thereof to the satisfaction of the directors and on such indemnity with or without security as the directors deem adequate being given, a new certificate in lieu thereof shall be given to such member.
(2) Every certificate issued under the last preceding Article shall be issued without payment, but there shall be paid to the Company such exceptional out-of-pocket expenses of the Company in connection with the request (including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the investigation of such request and the preparation and execution of any such indemnity or security) as the directors think fit.
as the directors decide.
and the bearer of a warrant is subject to the conditions and procedures in force in relation to it, whether or not they were decided or specified before the warrant was issued.
(6) Subject to the conditions on which the warrants are issued from time to time, bearers of share warrants have the same rights and privileges as they would if their names had been included in the register as holders of the shares represented by their warrants.
(7) The Company must not in any way be bound by or recognise any interest in a share represented by a share warrant other than the absolute right of the bearer of that warrant to that warrant.
(d) any holder of shares of the class in question present in person or by proxy may demand a poll.
The rights attached to any class of shares shall, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class or by the terms upon which such shares are for the time being held, be deemed not to be abrogated or varied by the creation or issue of further shares ranking pari passu therewith.
for any amounts not presently due as existed on the share before the sale), on surrender of the certificate for the shares sold, be paid to the holder or person entitled by transmission to the share immediately before the sale.
(1) Subject to the terms of allotment, the directors may make calls on the members in respect of any moneys unpaid on their shares (whether in respect of nominal amount or premium) and each member shall (subject to his receiving at least fourteen clear days' notice specifying when and where payment is to be made) pay to the Company as required by the notice the amount called on his shares. A call may be revoked or postponed as the board may decide.
If a call is not paid before or on the due date for payment, the person from whom it is due shall pay interest on the amount unpaid, from the due date for payment to the date of actual payment, at such rate as the directors may decide, but the directors may waive payment of the interest, wholly or in part.
A sum which by the terms of allotment of a share is payable on allotment, or at a fixed time, or by instalments at fixed times, shall for all purposes of these articles be deemed to be a call duly made and payable on the date or dates fixed for payment and, in case of non payment, these articles shall apply as if that sum had become payable by virtue of a call.
On any issue of shares the directors may make arrangements for a difference between the allottees or holders of the shares in the amounts and times of payment of calls on their shares.
The directors may, if it thinks fit, receive all or any part of the moneys payable on a share beyond the sum actually called up on it if the holder is willing to make payment in advance and, on any moneys so paid in advance, may (until they would otherwise be due) pay interest at such rate as may be agreed between the directors and the member paying the sum in advance.
The directors may, at any time before the forfeited or surrendered share has been sold, re allotted or otherwise disposed of, annul the forfeiture or surrender upon payment of all calls and interest due on or incurred in respect of the share and on such further conditions (if any) as it thinks fit.
A person any of whose shares have been forfeited or surrendered shall cease to be a member in respect of the forfeited or surrendered share and shall surrender to the Company for cancellation any certificate for the share forfeited or surrendered, but shall remain liable (unless payment is waived in whole or in part by the board) to pay to the Company all moneys payable by him on or in respect of that share at the time of forfeiture or surrender, together with interest from the time of forfeiture or surrender until payment at such rate as the board shall decide, in the same manner as if the share had not been forfeited or surrendered. He shall also be liable to satisfy all the claims and demands (if any) which the Company might have enforced in respect of the share at the time of forfeiture or surrender. No deduction or allowance shall be made for the value of the share at the time of forfeiture or surrender or for any consideration received on its disposal.
fraud) return to him the instrument of transfer or, in the case of uncertificated shares, notify such person as may be required by the Regulations and the requirements of the relevant system concerned.
All transfers of uncertificated shares shall be made in accordance with and be subject to the provisions of the Regulations and the requirements of the relevant system.
If a notice is given to a member in respect of shares and a transmittee is entitled to those shares, the transmittee is bound by the notice if it was given to the member before the transmittee's name has been entered in the register of members.
(2) If a section 793 notice is given by the Company to a person appearing to be interested in any share, a copy shall at the same time be given to the holder, but the accidental omission to do so or the non receipt of the copy by the holder shall not prejudice the operation of the following provisions of this article.
(3) If the holder of, or any person appearing to be interested in, any share has been given a section 793 notice and, in respect of that share (a "default share"), has been in default for a period of 14 days after the section 793 notice has been given in supplying to the Company the information required by the section 793 notice, the restrictions referred to below shall apply. Those restrictions shall continue for the period specified by the board, being not more than seven days after the earlier of:
The board may waive these restrictions, in whole or in part, at any time.
The restrictions in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above shall not prejudice the right of either the member holding the default shares or, if different, any person having a power of sale over those shares to sell or agree to sell those shares under an exempt transfer.
(a) an "exempt transfer" in relation to any share is a transfer pursuant to:
(b) the percentage of the issued shares of a class represented by a particular holding shall be calculated by reference to the shares in issue at the time when the section 793 notice is given; and
Subject to any direction by the Company in general meeting, whenever as the result of any consolidation or division of shares members of the Company are entitled to any issued shares of the Company in fractions, the directors may deal with such fractions as they shall determine and in particular may sell the shares to which members are so entitled in fractions to any person (including, subject to the provisions of the Statutes, the Company) and pay and distribute to and amongst the members entitled to such shares in due proportions the net proceeds of the sales thereof save for individual entitlements (net of expenses) not exceeding £3 which may be retained for the benefit of the Company.
(2) The directors may-
(a) sell the shares representing the fractions to any person including the Company for the best price reasonably obtainable;
(4) Unless the members' resolution to declare or directors' decision to pay a dividend, or the terms on which shares are issued, specify otherwise, it must be paid by reference to each member's holding of shares on the date of the resolution or decision to declare or pay it.
(5) If the Company's share capital is divided into different classes, no interim dividend may be paid on shares carrying deferred or non-preferred rights if, at the time of payment, any preferential dividend is in arrear.
the distribution recipient is a holder of the share), or (in any other case) to an address specified by the distribution recipient either in writing or as the directors may otherwise decide;
otherwise by operation of law, the transmittee.
they may, instead of issuing a enforcement notice, deduct from any dividend or other sum payable in respect of the share any sum of money which is payable to the Company in respect of that share to the extent that they are entitled to require payment under a enforcement notice.
(3) The Company must notify the distribution recipient in writing of-
(a) the fact and amount of any such deduction;
The Company may not pay interest on any dividend or other sum payable in respect of a share unless otherwise provided by-
may be invested or otherwise made use of by the directors for the benefit of the Company until claimed.
the distribution recipient is no longer entitled to that dividend or other sum and it ceases to remain owing by the Company.
Distribution recipients may waive their entitlement to a dividend or other distribution payable in respect of a share by giving the Company notice in writing to that effect, but if-
the notice is not effective unless it is expressed to be given, and signed, by all the holders or persons otherwise entitled to the share.
means only if it is given in accordance with the requirements specified by the board.
available on a website and the Company has not received a response within the period of 28 days beginning on the date on which the Company's request was sent and the member is therefore taken to have so agreed (and has not revoked that agreement);
paragraph 2(a) above if the member is deemed by a provision in the Statutes to have agreed that the notice or document may be so sent.
If at any time by reason of the suspension or curtailment of postal services within the United Kingdom or any part of the United Kingdom, or of services for delivery by electronic means, the Company is unable in the opinion of the board effectively to convene a general meeting or annual general meeting by notices sent through the post (or by notification by post as to the availability of the notice of meeting on a website) or (in the case of those members in respect of whom an address has for the time being been notified to the Company, in a manner specified by the board, for the purpose of giving notices by electronic means) by electronic means, the board may decide that the only persons to whom notice of the affected general meeting or annual general meeting must be sent are:
(b) the Company's auditors;
(c) those members to whom notice to convene the general meeting or annual general meeting can validly be sent by electronic means; and
In any such case the Company shall:
(1) Any notice in writing, document or other communication, if sent by first class post, shall be deemed to have been given on the day following that on which the envelope containing it is put into the post, or, if sent by second class post, shall be deemed to have been given on the second day following that on which the envelope containing it is put into the post and in proving that a notice, document or other communication has been given it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter, envelope or wrapper containing the notice, document or other communication was properly addressed, prepaid and put into the post.
(1) For the purposes of giving notices of meetings, documents or other communications, whether under the Statutes, a provision in these articles or any other instrument, the Company may determine that persons entitled to receive such notices, documents or other communications are those persons entered on the register at the close of business on a day determined by it.
(2) The day determined by the Company under paragraph (1) above may not be more than fifteen days before the day that the notice of the meeting, document or other communication is given.
Where a person is entitled by transmission to a share, any notice or other communication shall be given to him, as if he were the holder of that share and his address noted in the register were his registered address. In any other case, any notice or other communication given to any member pursuant to these articles shall, notwithstanding that the member is then dead or bankrupt or that any other event giving rise to the transmission of the share by operation of law has occurred and whether or not the Company has notice of the death, bankruptcy or other event, be deemed to have been properly given in respect of any share registered in the name of that member as sole or joint holder.
notices may be given in accordance with these articles is located, in each case giving notice of its intention to sell the share; and
(3) The board may also authorise any person to sign on behalf of the persons entitled to share in the distribution a contract for the acceptance by those persons of the shares or debentures to be allotted to them credited as fully paid under a capitalisation and any such contract shall be binding on all those persons.
the account as is equal to the amount of the cash deficiency applicable to those shares.
(5) No right shall be granted under any employees' share scheme under paragraph (1)(a) above and no adjustment shall be made as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) above unless there are sufficient profits or reserves of the Company available for distribution and not required for the payment of any preferential dividend to permit the transfer to a reserve account in accordance with this article of an amount sufficient to pay up the cash deficiency applicable to the shares concerned.
(1) If-
that member ceases to be entitled to receive notices from the Company.
(5) Unless otherwise decided by the board:
(a) certificates for shares, debentures or other securities of the Company issued under seal need not be signed; and
(e) all Proxy Notices from one year after the end of the meeting to which the Proxy Notice relates.
(2) If the Company destroys a document in good faith, in accordance with the articles, and without notice of any claim to which that document may be relevant, it is conclusively presumed in favour of the Company that-
Except as provided by law or authorised by the directors or an ordinary resolution of the Company, no person is entitled to inspect any of the Company's accounting or other records or documents merely by virtue of being a member.
The directors may decide to make provision for the benefit of persons employed or formerly employed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than a director or former director or shadow director) in connection with the cessation or transfer to any person of the whole or part of the undertaking of the Company or that Subsidiary.
Subject to the Statutes, every person who is or was a director or other officer (excluding an auditor) of the Company or any associated company, directly or indirectly, shall be indemnified out of the assets of the Company against all liabilities incurred by him in the actual or purported execution or discharge of his duties or the exercise or purported exercise of his powers or otherwise in relation to or in connection with his duties, powers or office but:
Subject to the Statutes, the Company may indemnify to any extent any person who is or was a director of an associated company that is a trustee of an occupational pension scheme, directly or indirectly (including by funding any expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him) against any liability incurred by him in connection with the Company's activities as trustee of an occupational pension scheme.
Subject to the Statutes, the Company may at the discretion of the board provide every director or other officer (excluding an auditor) of the Company with funds to meet expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him (or to enable such director or officer to avoid incurring such expenditure) in defending any civil or criminal proceedings, any regulatory actions or investigations or in connection with any application under the provisions referred to in section 205(5) 2006 Act.
The liability of the members is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares in the company respectively held by them.
If the Company shall be wound up the liquidator may, subject to the Statutes, with the sanction of a special resolution of the Company and any other sanction required by the Statutes, divide amongst the members in specie or in kind the whole or any part of the assets of the Company (whether they shall consist of property of the same kind or not) and may, for such purpose, set such value as he deems fair upon any property to be divided as aforesaid and may determine how such division shall be carried out as between the members or different classes of members. The liquidator may, with the like sanction, vest the whole or any part of such assets in trustees upon such trusts for the benefit of the contributories as the liquidator, with the like sanction, shall think fit, but so that no member shall be compelled to accept any shares or other securities or other assets whereon there is any liability.
Building tools?
Free accounts include 100 API calls/year for testing.
Have a question? We'll get back to you promptly.