Otto Marine to Be Acquired?

Otto Marine Singapore-based offshore marine company Otto Marine Limited said today that an undisclosed party is looking to buy the company.  Namely, the company has received a letter from RHB Securities Singapore acting as a financial adviser of an unnamed buyer and informing that that buyer is interested in the purchase of Otto Marines shares. RHB said it will submit a formal proposal revealing the identity of the buyer and the details of the transaction as soon as possible. In addition, RHB requests that the company halts trading of its shares as there have been undue movements in the share price of Otto for the past few days.  Due to the headwinds in the offshore oil and gas industry, the company saw a decrease in external revenue by 31.3 percent to USD 244.4 million in 2015, taking into account its three businesses shipbuilding, chartering and subsea. In addition, the company recently reported revenue and EBITDA for Q1 of 2016 of USD 95 million and USD 21 million, considerably down from USD 244 million revenue reported in the corresponding period in 2015. Looking ahead, while the long-term outlook for the oil prices and related industries is expected to improve eventually, the company anticipates that 2016 will be yet another difficult year amid uncertainties and prolonged weak demand, and has set in motion measures to reduce management and cost structure. As of March 31 this year, the companys offshore chartering amounted to USD 194 million.