Paratus Energy Services Ltd. Announces Full Retirement of SeaMex Notes
Hamilton, Bermuda, July 18, 2023 - Paratus Energy Services Ltd. (“Paratus” or “Company”) is pleased to announce that SeaMex Holdings Ltd. (“SeaMex”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Paratus, has fully prepaid the notes outstanding under its Notes Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement dated August 31, 2021 (“SeaMex Notes”), marking a significant milestone since the Company’s emergence from chapter 11 in January 2022.
The achievement positions SeaMex free of any third-party debt obligations and encumbrances and highlights the Company’s commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet and focus on deleveraging. This success follows the full early retirement of the Bank Facilities[1] of Seabras Sapura Holding GmbH and related subsidiaries (collectively “Seabras”) in December 2022.
By retiring its debt over a year ahead of its maturity, SeaMex reinforces its financial strength, allowing for increased flexibility and a reduced cost of capital. SeaMex has collected over $600 million from its key customer since January 2022, and expects to continue to deliver strong free cash flows going forward. With the SeaMex Notes fully repaid, the company will also have increased flexibility to distribute cash to Paratus.
About SeaMex:
SeaMex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paratus, is an offshore driller that owns a fleet of five high-specification jack-up rigs: Defender, Courageous, Intrepid, Oberon, and Titania. All SeaMex jack-up rigs are currently operating under contract in Mexico. As of March 31, 2023, SeaMex had a backlog position of approximately $500 million. Seadrill Management Ltd. currently performs substantially all of SeaMex’s management and administrative functions pursuant to a management services agreement; however, SeaMex is in the process of transitioning management and administrative functions in-house and announced the hiring of Raphael Siri as CEO in 2Q 2023 to lead these efforts. Seadrill’s management activities are expected to largely be phased out in 3Q 2023.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Transaction. These statements are based on management’s current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and its subsidiaries and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing for and ultimate completion of the Transaction, management’s reliance on third party professional advisors and operational partners and providers, the Company’s ability (or inability) to control the operations and governance of certain joint ventures and investment vehicles, oil and energy services and solutions market conditions, subsea services market conditions, and offshore drilling market conditions, the cost and timing of capital projects, the performance of operating assets, delay in payment or disputes with customers, the ability to successfully employ operating assets, procure or have access to financing, ability to comply with loan covenants, liquidity and adequacy of cash flow from operations of its subsidiaries and investments, fluctuations in the international price of oil or alternative energy sources, international financial, commodity or currency market conditions, including, in each case, the impact of COVID-19 and related economic conditions, changes in governmental regulations, including in connection with COVID-19, increased competition in any of the industries in which the Company or any of its subsidiaries operates, the impact of global economic conditions and global health threats, including in connection with COVID-19, the Company’s ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, joint venture partners, professional advisors, operational partners and providers, employees and other third parties and the Company’s ability to maintain adequate financing to support the Company’s business plans, factors related to the offshore drilling, subsea services, and oil and energy services and solutions markets, the impact of global economic conditions, the Company’s liquidity and the adequacy of cash flows to meet obligations, including the ability of the Company’s subsidiaries and investment vehicles to pay dividends, political and other uncertainties, the concentration of the Company’s revenues in certain geographical jurisdictions, limitations on insurance coverage, the Company’s ability (or inability) to attract and retain skilled personnel on commercially reasonable terms, the level of expected capital expenditures, the Company’s expected financing of such capital expenditures, and the timing and cost of completion of capital projects, fluctuations in interest rates or exchange rates and currency devaluations relating to foreign or U.S. monetary policy, tax matters, changes in tax laws, treaties and regulations, tax assessments and liabilities for tax issues, legal and regulatory matters, customs and environmental matters, the potential impacts on the Company’s business resulting from climate-change or greenhouse gas legislation or regulations, the impact on the Company’s business from climate-change related physical changes or changes in weather patterns, and the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents, attacks or other breaches to the Company’s information technology systems, including its rig operating systems. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factors on our businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
[1] Bank Facilities refer to two loan agreements – one relating to Diamante and Topazio (totaling approximately $537 million at issuance) and another relating to Onix, Jade and Rubi (totaling approximately $769 million at issuance). Following the Bank Facilities repayment, the only outstanding third-party debt obligation is the Esmeralda vessel financing from the Brazilian Merchant Marine Fund, which has a maturity of 2032 and is collateralized by the Esmeralda vessel (“Esmeralda Facility”). The company intends to keep the Esmeralda Facility in place as it represents a highly attractive long-term source of funding, backed by the Brazilian Ministry of Transportation.