Seacor Liftboat Holdings (SLH) and Montco Offshore Inc. have formed a joint venture with a fleet of 19 liftboats.
SLH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seacor Marine Holdings Inc., and Montco, the Galliano, La., liftboat company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, will operate as Falcon Global Holdings, regulatory filings show. Seacor was the stalking horse bidder.
The joint venture would assume about $130 million of debt from Montco’s credit facilities and about $76 million of debt on Seacor Marine’s financial statements.
Founded in 1948, Montco has 99 employees and a fleet that includes two 335’-class liftboats, two 245’ class and two 235’ class. The 335’ Jill completed in 2014 is the newest.
Oil and gas industry woes weighed on the company. For Montco’s niche in particular, “companies have substantially deferred maintenance and P&A [plugging and abandonment] work in order to conserve cash during the downturn,” leading to a drop in demand for its services, Montco said in its filings.
If any competing bids come in by Aug. 24, an auction will be held Aug. 29. Closing is expected by Dec. 31.
The Montco deal is Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Seacor’s second recent acquisition of a bankrupt company.
International Shipholding Corp. (ISH) has emerged from bankruptcy as a Seacor Holdings Inc. subsidiary in a restructuring that includes the issuance of new equity to Seacor in exchange for $10.5 million cash and the conversion of $18.1 million in outstanding debtor-in-possession financing claims to equity. In addition, there’s $25 million in a new senior debt exit facility, much of which will be used to satisfy creditor claims.
New Orleans-based ISH, founded in 1947 as Central Gulf Steamship Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2016 after trying to shed assets and negotiate with lenders. The company, which operated 21 U.S. and foreign-flag vessels, listed assets of $305.1 million and total debts of $226.8 million.
