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Published on September 21, 2007

Mermaid Drilling (Singapore), a subsidiary of Mermaid Maritime, signed a shareholders' agreement with Malaysia's Kencana Petroleum Ventures to form a joint venture - Kencana Mermaid Drilling - Thoresen Thai Agencies managing director ML Chandchutha Chandratat said yesterday.

Proceeds to finance the plan will derive from Mermaid Maritime, a subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies.

Mermaid Drilling will own a 40-per-cent stake in Kencana Mermaid Drilling, while Kencana Petroleum Ventures will make up the rest, he said.

"Kencana Mermaid Drilling will be incorporated around October 2007, with an initial authorised and paid-up capital of 100,000 ringgit [Bt993,000] divided into 100,000 ordinary shares of RM1 each. The investment amount by Mermaid Drilling equals RM40,000, or approximately Bt404,000 using a ringgit-per-baht exchange rate of 10.1," he said.

He said the outlook of exploration and production for oil and gas remained robust for several years and that this would give a boost to drilling and related service business.

Separately, Thoresen Thai Agencies said yesterday in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand that it would issue US$169.8 million (Bt5.81 billion) in convertible debentures to foreign investors.

The five-year bonds will carry a coupon rate of 2.5 per cent per annum and a conversion rate of Bt59.90 a share.

The Nation