Aker Solutions commences trading following split

Aker Solutions has started trading on the Oslo stock after the company split.

The company emerges after a spin-off of the Subsea, Umbilicals, Engineering and Maintenance, Modifications and Operations (MMO) businesses of the former Aker Solutions, which has been split into two separate entities.

The other company formed in the separation is Akastor, an oilfield services investment business that will develop the former group's other units, including Drilling Technologies.

Energy industry

"The split creates a simpler and more focused Aker Solutions that is better positioned to meet the needs of customers in an increasingly competitive global energy industry," explained Luis Araujo, CEO of Aker Solutions. "We will build on our leading positions in subsea and field design through a commitment to operational excellence, organic growth and capital discipline that will boost shareholder value."

Aker Solutions is now more streamlined to focus on deepwater and subsea oil-services. Its business areas also have operational, commercial and strategic similarities, allowing for a swifter realisation of synergies as the subsea and field design areas share the same customers and main markets. The company's strategy will be simpler and focused on value creation through technological development, organic growth and operational excellence.

Subsea market

Araujo continued: "We are winning market share in subsea, particularly in Brazil and West Africa, and we are the leader in offshore engineering and maintenance and modifications services in the North Sea market. This provides us with a robust growth outlook that's supported by a record backlog."

Aker Solutions is currently adjusting its capacity to a slowdown in the MMO market in Norway. The company is attempting to avoid redundancies by moving employees to other business areas, including a subsea hub being established in Stavanger. Other employees have been offered a transfer to a manning agency that actively seeks to find them new positions.

New projects

"Capital discipline is the most crucial driver for oil exploration and production companies right now and we expect this to remain tight over the next one to two years after which we anticipate a new wave of projects. There are many exciting projects being worked on, including Johan Sverdrup, and there is rising demand for our MMO services in other parts of the world, such as Canada and the UK, where we recently secured a maintenance and modifications services contract from Statoil for the Mariner oilfield development," said Araujo.

The company, which is trading under the ticker AKSO, listed 272,044,389 shares on the stock exchange on 29 September.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/29092014/aker-solutions-trades-on-oslo-stock-exchange-1517/