Shareholders of Robotic Drilling Systems (RDS) voted to sell all company shares to Nabors Industries, Norway drilling firm Odfjell Drilling has announced.
Odjfell, which holds about 37% of the shares in RDS through Odfjell Drilling Technology, expects the sale to generate about US$11 million. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2017, subject to conditoins.
As part of the sale, Odfjell Drilling and Nabors also have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic cooperation agreement to ensure Odfjell Drilling access to RDS’ robotic technologies for Odfjell Drilling’s existing and future drilling rigs.
Odjfell Drilling has been a shareholder in RDS for the past three years. During that time, Odfjell Drilling has worked closely with RDS to deliver and field-prove its robotic drilling products, said Per Lund, senior vice president, innovation in Odfjell Drilling, in a press statement.
“The company is now at the verge of full scale commercialization and we are confident that Nabors, having a manufacturing group in Canrig, will be a good future home for this exciting technology,” said Lund.
Nabors recently acquired Tesco Corp. as part of its strategy of moving beyond being a provider of offshore and land drilling rigs to also using rigs as a delivery platform to provide drilling products and services.
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