Norway’s Shearwater Geoservices, the world’s top seismic vessel player, has completed the refinancing of its long-term debt.
The Bergen-based firm has issued a five-year $300m senior secured first lien bond and executed a new $300m five-year bank loan with net proceeds used to repay previous debt. It has also established a $50m revolving credit and a $50m guarantee facility.
The loan was provided by DNB Bank, Sparebank 1 SR-Bank, Export Finance Norway and Sparebanken Møre. It has a scheduled annual amortisation of $50m and was priced at SOFR +4.10%. The senior secured bond issue was substantially oversubscribed and priced at a fixed rate of 9.5%. The bonds will be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in the second half of 2024.
“Shearwater has established a strong foundation for growth and value creation as a global leader within the marine seismic industry in terms of capabilities, capacity and financial standing. We are positioned to generate significant free cash flow in coming years to the benefit of our shareholders. This is supported by substantial operational leverage as we control the worldwide swing capacity combined with limited capex requirements and low leverage,” said Andreas Hveding Aubert, chief of finance at Shearwater.
The Irene Waage Basili-led Shearwater was founded in 2016 as a joint venture by GC Rieber Shipping and Rasmussengruppen. The company’s other main shareholder is SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger. The company recently acquired two seismic vessels from compatriot owner and operator Volstad for about $82m, adding to its already 20-vessel-strong fleet.
