HOUSTON, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cal Dive International, Inc.
(Nasdaq: CDIS) announced today that it has closed an asset purchase agreement
with Torch Offshore, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: TORCQ) following early termination
of the second review of the transaction by the Department of Justice. Under
the terms of the purchase agreement Cal Dive paid a consideration of
$85 million for two shelf pipelay barges; four shelf diving vessels; the
deepwater pipelay vessel Midnight Express; and a portable saturation diving
system, together with all equipment, inventory, intellectual property and
other assets related to the operations of the vessels.
Martin Ferron, President, stated, "We are very pleased to have concluded
this complicated transaction and are now focused on getting the acquired
assets back to work, especially given the extra demand generated by Hurricane
Katrina. We expect this to happen on a phased basis before the end of the
year due to the need to drydock several of the vessels. The Midnight Express
will be placed in service this year in its present condition, but will require
significant upgrade work next year to reach its optimum pipelay capability.
We expect the overall drydocking and upgrade budget to be around $30 million
for all of the assets.
"The deal should be accretive to fourth quarter earnings this year and we
expect the acquired assets to generate between $25 million - $30 million of
operating cash flow on a full year basis."
Cal Dive International, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an
energy service company which provides alternate solutions to the oil and gas
industry worldwide for marginal field development, alternative development
plans, field life extension and abandonment, with service lines including
marine diving services, robotics, well operations, facilities ownership and
oil and gas production.
This press release and attached presentation contain forward-looking
statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause
our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, are statements that could be deemed "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, including, without limitation, any projections of revenue, gross
margin, expenses, earnings or losses from operations, or other financial
items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management
for future operations; any statement concerning developments, performance or
industry rankings relating to services; any statements regarding future
economic conditions or performance; any statements of expectation or belief;
and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks,
uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include the performance of
contracts by suppliers, customers and partners; employee management issues;
complexities of global political and economic developments, and other risks
described from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ending December 31, 2004. We assume no obligation and do not intend
to update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Cal Dive International, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.caldive.com
CONTACT:
Wade Pursell, Chief Financial Officer of Cal
Dive International, Inc., +1-281-618-0400, or fax,
+1-281-618-0505
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