Italian oilfield services contractor Saipem will not proceed with its planned acquisition of the drillship Deep Value Driller from Norwegian company Deep Value Driller (DVD).

Collapse of the Agreement

Saipem had announced on 17 February an agreement to purchase the drilling unit for $272.5 million, subject to board approvals. However, Saipem stated it could not complete the deal because DVD unexpectedly decided to sell the rig to a third party instead.

DVD's Decision and New Buyer

DVD explained that after the joint announcement with Saipem, it received an unsolicited offer from Eldorado Drilling to buy the drillship for $300 million in cash. DVD's board concluded this was the best available alternative and, on Wednesday, entered a binding agreement with Eldorado Drilling. Consequently, DVD decided not to give final approval to its earlier agreement with Saipem.

Drillship Specifications and Current Operation

The drillship, built in 2014, is capable of operating in water depths up to 12,000 feet and drilling to depths of 40,000 feet. It is currently operating offshore Indonesia under a bareboat charter between Saipem’s Portuguese subsidiary and DVD, which runs until July 2026.

Saipem's Response and Financial Impact

Saipem reserves the right to take any appropriate legal action to safeguard its interests and rights. The company also specified that the failure to finalize this acquisition will lead to an improvement of €226 million ($266.9 million) to its net financial position at the end of 2025.