Norway-based VSAT provider Ship Equip is looking for potential buyers, SatelliteFinance understands. UBS has been hired to run the sales process.
The seller is thought to be aiming to get a valuation of around Nkr640m (US$107m), equivalent to 10x 2010…
Norway-based VSAT provider Ship Equip is looking for potential buyers, SatelliteFinance understands. UBS has been hired to run the sales process.
The seller is thought to be aiming to get a valuation of around Nkr640m (US$107m), equivalent to 10x 2010 EBIDTA. The company reported fiscal 2009 turnover of Nkr268.9m (US$49m), while fiscal 2010 revenues are thought to be approximately NKr315 (US$53m) with EBITDA of NKr64m (US$10.6m). The company has grown rapidly in recent years and is predicting that revenues will rise to Nkr800m (US$133.7m) and EBITDA to NKr300m (US$50m) by 2014.
Potential bidders for Ship Equip are understood to include satellite communications services company Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN), sponsor-backed satcom services provider Vizada (which has its own maritime satcoms business in Marlink), and RigNet, a communication services provider for the oil & gas industry, which recently released details of its planned IPO.
A month ago, both MTN and Vizada, along with other bidders, competed to buy oilfield services giant Schlumberger’s Global Connectivity Services (GCS) business. The battle was ultimately won by global communication group Harris Corp, which will pay just under US$400m for GCS, also a provider of communications services for the oil & gas industry.
Harris’ appetite for consolidation deals is fuelling speculation that the company would also be interested in buying Ship Equip. In an attempt to compete in the international market, the company has been very acquisitive recently, snapping up CapRock Communications for US$525m. That acquisition valued CapRock at 9.5x EBIDTA and this is believed to have set a benchmark for future transactions in the sector, including the Ship Equip sale.
Initial bids are due by 17 December.
Ship Equip was established as a satellite TV provider in the early 1990s, before expanding to the maritime sector. It focuses on the lucrative international commercial shipping market with more than 800 vessels including oil/gas offshore support vessels (OSVs), tankers, freighters and commercial fishing boats currently utilising the company’s VSAT system. The company recently established two new Network Operations Centers (NOC) in Houston and Singapore.
Ship Equip could not be reached for comment before going to press.
