Davie Shipyard acquisition completed

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 — ZM Industries has acquired Canada’s Davie Shipyard.

ZM Industries is a privately held company headquartered in the United Kingdom specializing in the management of vessel construction, upgrade and conversion projects in the oilfield services market. ZM Industries and its sister-companies work with the Zafiro Marine fleet comprising two of the world’s largest offshore construction vessels. ZM Offshore Management, another company within the ZM Group, this year managed the conversion of Sampson, a DPIII Pipelay /Heavylift vessel part of the Zafiro Marine fleet, on behalf of CarVal Investors, a global alternative investment fund manager that is a subsidiary of agribusiness giant Cargill. CarVal Investors is not involved in the purchase of Davie Shipyard.

The seller of the shipyard, Upper Lakes Group Inc. decided to sell the shipyard following the termination of its joint-venture with SNC Lavalin who were bidding for two federal contracts during 2011. Davie will continue to bid for future government contracts, such as the upcoming tenders for 26 newbuildings for the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Davie shipyard is strategically located in Levis, Quebec on the St. Lawrence river and has a long track-record in building specialized vessels and rigs for the oil & gas, defense and passenger vessel markets. It is also a hub for repair activities for ships transiting the great lakes.

Davie’s build history includes a series of newbuild jack-up drilling rigs for Petrobras as well as the renovation of semi-submersible rigs for the same client. Other successful offshore projects involve the conversion of the Helix Express into a pipelay vessel. Davie has been the largest builder of warships for the Royal Canadian Navy. The shipbuilding facility is also well regarded in the passenger vessel market, where it has built and upgraded a large number of ferries and cruise ships.

ZM Industries brings to the shipbuilding facility its global network in the oilfield services market and a strong track-record in managing vessel and construction projects. ZM Industries also brings a number of industry-leading partners including major marine equipment suppliers, engineering companies and technical services providers who shall continue to support its activities at Davie.

Davie president Richard Bertrand commented “Davie is a strategically located shipyard with a strong track-record, highly skilled workforce and modern fabrication capabilities. We are extremely pleased to have ZM Industries as our new partner.”

ZM Industries’ Chief Financial Officer, James Davies added “Following an exhaustive due diligence process and then a long negotiation with a number of stakeholders including the provincial and federal governments, the Davie unions, suppliers, clients and so on, we are very pleased to have concluded this transaction. Davie has a newbuilding orderbook which will take it through the next four and a half years comprising a number of offshore and passenger vessel constructions. There will be some further announcements over the coming months.”