Alantra advises Atlantic Navigation on the sale of its 20-vessel OSV fleet to MAG Offshore in a milestone cross border transaction spanning four geographies

Oct 2024

Sell-side M&A and Acquisition financing advisory

Dubai – Alantra has acted as the sole sell side M&A financial advisor to Atlantic Navigation Holdings Limited (ANHSL), a leading Singapore-listed offshore support vessel operator, on the sale of its 20-offshore vessel diversified fleet to MAG Offshore Investments LLC, a tripartite multi-jurisdictional joint venture amongst MAAS Capital, Goldenport Group and Allianz Marine Services.

The buyers completed the acquisition through a combination of equity and debt, with the acquisition financing provided by National Bank of Fujairah, the leading UAE bank. Alantra also acted as the sole acquisition financing advisor on the transaction.

ANHSL is a leading Singapore-listed offshore support vessel operator, owning a diversified fleet of 21 OSVs across the PSV, AHTS, utility, and accommodation barge categories, primarily operating in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. ANHSL’s fleet ranks as the 2nd youngest and 11th largest in the Middle East.

Bill Wong, CEO of ANHSL, commented: “This transaction was successfully executed with the strong support of the shareholders of ANHSL. With Alantra’s help, we concluded the transaction with MAG Offshore, which, in our view, is a high-quality consortium made up of financial and strategic investors. We are very pleased with the advice we received from Alantra throughout the process and their meticulous work in getting this across the finish line.”

George Giannakis, Managing Partner at Alantra, said: “This cross-border transaction is yet another testament to Alantra’s deep understanding and expertise in the maritime and offshore sector, as well as its truly global reach across maritime market participants. By connecting a Singaporean-UAE-based seller with investors from the Netherlands, UAE, and Greece, we’ve showcased our capacity to navigate complex, multinational deals. We’re seeing a clear trend toward consolidation in the offshore sector, driving significant activity in the market. This transaction marks the third major M&A deal we’ve advised on in the maritime sector over the last 24 months.”

MAG Offshore is a newly established joint venture amongst three leading shipping groups: MAAS Capital, a prominent Netherlands-based shipping financial investor and part of Entrust Global ($17bn AUM fund manager); Goldenport Group, a leading Greek shipping group with a 40+ year presence in the industry and a fleet of 52 tanker, dry bulk, and container vessels; and Allianz Marine Services, one of the leading OSV owners, managing a fleet of 34 OSVs.

MAG Offshore created the first multi-jurisdictional player, with strong financial muscle, taking over a top-10 OSV fleet in the Middle East, aiming to benefit by the unique fundamentals in the offshore sector across the Middle East, Western Africa and South-East Asia.

Saad Ashraf, Managing Partner at Alantra, added: “We are thankful to the management of ANHSL for giving us the opportunity to advise on the sale of their OSV fleet, which allowed us to leverage our global sector expertise and UAE regional coverage to bring this transaction to a successful close. This transaction would not have been possible without the essential support provided by the National Bank of Fujairah on the financing side.”