SAPURAKENCANA BECOMES NATION’S LARGEST O&G PLAYER

SapuraKencana becomes nation’s largest O&G player

GLOBALLY KNOWN: (from left) Shahril, Hamzah, Mustapa and Mokhzani checking out the stock price movement at its listing ceremony on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia with other members of the board of directors of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd looking on.

KUCHING May 18, 2012: The listing of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (SapuraKencana) on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia signifies the successful conclusion of the massive RM11.85 billion merger exercise of two Malaysian oil and gas (O&G) powerhouses, SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd and Kencana Petroleum Bhd.

According to the company, the merger was initiated in July last year. The merger created Malaysia’s largest O&G service provider, which also ranked among the top five O&G service companies in the world by asset value.

SapuraKencana’s chairman Datuk Hamzah Bakar said, “The O&G industry is now looking for turnkey service providers that can manage complex tasks end to end. Our new, enhanced position backed by a full suite of services and a solid international track record places us in good stead to expand our global footprint while tapping opportunities locally.”

“This does not mean that we merely aim towards greater profits at the expense of everything else, but to continue to strive to become an international brand. Achieving this would mean creating a positive impression globally not only for SapuraKencana but Malaysia and Malaysians as a whole,” he added in an email response.

The listing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday was witnessed by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. In attendance were SapuraKencana’s executive vice chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, president and group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shahril Shamsuddin as well as Sapura Group’s chairman and founder Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir.

According to Hamzah, Miti and the government had played an integral role in SapuraKencana’s expansion into the global landscape. “The story of SapuraKencana started more than 10 years ago as separate entities. Today is a milestone in history, emerging as a single new company with a vision to become a global force in the O&G industry.”

During the listing, SapuraKencana also announced its senior management team who would play a key role in driving its growth.

The new team was made up of Yeow Kheng Chew (executive vice president of Treasury and Corporate Finance), Chong Hin Loon (executive vice president of Fabrication and HUC), Datuk Kris Azman bin Abdullah (senior vice president of Energy and Joint Ventures), Azmi Ismail (senior vice president of Drilling, Geotech and Maintenance services), Reza Abdul Rahim (senior vice president of Offshore Construction and Subsea Services) and Chow Mei Mei (senior vice president of Corporate Strategy and Business Planning).

A total of 5,004,366,196 SapuraKencana shares were listed yesterday at an issue price of RM2 per share. This placed SapuraKencana in the Top 30 of the largest Malaysian companies by market capitalisation.

The listing followed the successful distribution of SapuraKencana shares and cash payments to entitled shareholders on May 15, 2012.

As part of the merger exercise, both SapuraCrest and Kencana Petroleum undertook a capital repayment exercise by way of capital reduction, whereby all the SapuraCrest and Kencana Petroleum shares were cancelled and distributed to the entitled shareholders at a consideration of RM4.60 per SapuraCrest share and RM3 per Kencana Petroleum share respectively.

Out of the 5,004,366,196 SapuraKencana shares listed, SapuraCrest’s entitled shareholders received 2,498,928,847 shares while Kencana Petroleum’s entitled shareholders received 2,505,437,349 shares. Shareholders of the two entities also received cash payment totaling RM1.84 billion from the merger exercise.

by Justin Yap