Saudi drilling firm raises acquisition offer for Dubai rival
16 September 2025
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Saudi Arabia-based ADES International Holding has increased its offer to buy Dubai-based, Oslo-listed rival Shelf Drilling to 18.50 Norwegian Krone ($1.88) per share, representing a 6% increase in the acquisition’s enterprise value.
The offer was revised from an earlier deal of $1.42 per share or a total of $379.33m.
ADES International Holding, a subsidiary of ADES Holding Company, signed a transaction agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Shelf Drilling through a cash merger, with ADES International Cayman (BidCo) also participating in the proposed merger.
According to a joint statement, irrevocable commitments have now been provided by additional shareholders, including China Merchants, Anchorage Capital Group and Magallanes Value Investors, which, combined with ADES’ 17.9% stake in Shelf Drilling, represent 53.4% of the outstanding shares in the company.
ADES International Holding raised its offer for Shelf Drilling after reassessing the company’s current market performance and revising its estimated annual cost synergies upwards by $10m, bringing the total to $50m-$60m.
All other terms of the merger remain unchanged, along with the transaction timetable, with closing expected to occur in the last quarter of the year.
Shelf Drilling is incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, with its corporate headquarters in Dubai.
In April this year, ADES International Holding secured a 10-year extension for one of its standard offshore jack-up rigs from Saudi Aramco, valued at approximately $290m.
The contract for the offshore jack-up marks the re-entry of ADES International Holding into the Saudi offshore oil and gas market. The rig was among six jack-ups whose charters were suspended by Aramco last April.
ADES International Holding has secured deployments for three of those jack-ups in Qatar, Thailand and Egypt, while the fourth was recently redeployed to Thailand.
ADES International Holding also said it has increased its footprint since the start of 2025 by securing an offshore drilling job off the coast of Nigeria, marking its entry into West Africa.
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