Teekay Corporation (Teekay)(NYSE:TK) and Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (Teekay Offshore or the Partnership) (NYSE:TOO) yesterday announced that they have agreed to enter into a strategic partnership with Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)(TSX:BBU.UN), together with its institutional partners (collectively Brookfield). This transaction is part of a comprehensive solution for Teekay Offshore, which includes a $640 million equity investment and other financing initiatives detailed below.
Highlights
- Brookfield is attracted to Teekay Offshore’s high-quality contracted cash flows and market leading positions in the offshore production and logistics space
- Comprehensive solution significantly strengthens Teekay Offshore’s balance sheet
- Fully finances Teekay Offshore’s existing growth projects, which are expected to provide significant near-term cash flow growth
- Positions Teekay Offshore to better service its customers and take advantage of future growth opportunities
- Teekay Offshore has ordered two shuttle tanker newbuildings, which will serve under the Master Agreement with Statoil, with the option to order two additional vessels under similar terms
“We are excited to have Brookfield join us as a strategic partner and co-sponsor of Teekay Offshore, which is a strong endorsement of Teekay Offshore’s leading market positions in the marine infrastructure space,” commented Kenneth Hvid, Teekay’s President and CEO. “The combination of Teekay’s operational platform and Brookfield’s global business platform and access to long-term capital is a complementary fit and creates one of the world’s strongest offshore marine infrastructure companies. Out of the range of alternatives evaluated, we believe this comprehensive solution represents the best possible outcome for all of our long-term stakeholders and positions Teekay Offshore to benefit from an energy market recovery. This transaction maintains the stability of Teekay Offshore’s significant forward cash flows and also improves Teekay Parent’s financial position by eliminating all of its financial guarantees to Teekay Offshore and increasing its own liquidity by approximately $140 million. This will enhance Teekay Parent’s ability to be a supportive sponsor to all of its Daughter companies going forward.”
“Brookfield’s co-sponsorship in Teekay Offshore provides both immediate and long-term benefits,” commented Ingvild Sæther, President and CEO of Teekay Offshore Group Ltd. “This transaction fully finances Teekay Offshore’s existing growth projects which, when delivered over the next few quarters, are expected to contribute an incremental $200 million of run-rate annual cash flow from vessel operations. Longer-term, the co-sponsorship of Brookfield and Teekay will provide greater access to capital, which will enable Teekay Offshore to better service its customers and take advantage of future growth opportunities as the global energy markets recover. Our recent order of shuttle tanker newbuildings to service Teekay Offshore’s North Sea Master Agreement with Statoil is just one example of the customer demand we are already seeing for our offshore production and logistics services.”
“Teekay Offshore has established itself as a global leader in the provision of marine services to the offshore oil production industry,” said Cyrus Madon, CEO of Brookfield Business Partners. “Our investment represents an opportunity to acquire a high quality, highly contracted business with presence in attractive markets, and we look forward to supporting Teekay Offshore with its continued growth.”
Summary of the Comprehensive Solution
- Brookfield and Teekay will invest $610 million and $30 million, respectively, in Teekay Offshore at a price of $2.50 per common unit and receive 65.5 million Teekay Offshore warrants (Warrants) on a pro rata basis. Following the investment, Brookfield will own approximately 60 percent and Teekay will own approximately 14 percent of the common units of Teekay Offshore;
- Brookfield will acquire from Teekay Parent both a 49 percent interest in Teekay Offshore GP LLC (TOO GP), the general partner of Teekay Offshore and an option to acquire an additional 2 percent of TOO GP. On closing, Brookfield will have the right to elect four members to the nine-member Board of Directors of TOO GP;
- Teekay Offshore will repurchase and cancel all $304 million of the outstanding Series C-1 and Series D preferred units from the existing unitholders for an aggregate amount of approximately $250 million in cash, which will save approximately $28 million in annual distributions;
- Teekay Offshore has reached agreement in principle with the lenders of the Arendal Spirit UMS debt facility to extend the mandatory prepayment date out to September 30, 2018, in exchange for a certain principal prepayment, subject to receipt of lenders’ final internal approvals;
- Brookfield will acquire from Teekay Parent an existing $200 million intercompany loan previously extended to Teekay Offshore in exchange for $140 million in cash and 11.4 million of the Warrants to be issued to Brookfield. Brookfield has agreed to extend the maturity date of the intercompany loan from 2019 to 2022;
- Teekay Offshore will transfer its shuttle tanker business into a new, wholly-owned, non-recourse subsidiary, Teekay Shuttle Tankers LLC (ShuttleCo). As part of the formation of ShuttleCo, a majority of Teekay Offshore’s shuttle tanker fleet will be refinanced with a new $600 million, five-year debt facility, and two 50 percent-owned vessels will be refinanced with a new $71 million, four-year debt facility. In addition, an existing $250 million debt facility secured by the three East Coast Canada newbuildings, and an existing $143 million private placement project bond financing secured by two vessels, will be transferred from Teekay Offshore to ShuttleCo;
- A significant portion of Teekay Offshore’s Norwegian Kroner (NOK) bond series due to mature in late-2018 and early-2019 is expected to be repurchased with proceeds from a new five-year, up to $250 million U.S. dollar denominated bond offering by ShuttleCo in the Norwegian bond market; and
- Certain financial institutions providing interest rate swaps to Teekay Offshore have agreed to (i) lower the fixed interest rate on the swaps, (ii) extend the termination option of the swaps by two years to 2021, and (iii) eliminate the financial guarantee and security package currently provided by Teekay Parent in return for a certain prepayment amount and fee.
Distribution Declarations
As a condition of Brookfield’s equity investment, Teekay Offshore has agreed to reduce its existing common unit distribution to reinvest cash in the business and further strengthen the Partnership’s balance sheet. For the quarter ended June 30, 2017, TOO GP has declared a cash distribution of $0.01 per common unit. The cash distribution on the Teekay Offshore common units is payable on August 11, 2017 to all unitholders of record on August 7, 2017.
In addition, TOO GP has declared cash distributions of $0.4531 and $0.5313 per Teekay Offshore Series A Preferred unit and Series B Preferred unit, respectively, for the period from May 15, 2017 to August 14, 2017. The cash distributions on the preferred units are payable on August 15, 2017 to all unitholders of record on August 8, 2017.
Shuttle Tanker Newbuilding Order
In addition to the formation of ShuttleCo, Teekay Offshore has entered into conditional shipbuilding contracts with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. to construct two Suezmax-size, DP2 shuttle tanker newbuildings, with options to order up to two additional vessels. These newbuilding vessels will be constructed based on the Partnership’s New Shuttle Spirit design which incorporates proven technologies to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, including LNG propulsion technology. Upon delivery in 2019 and 2020, these new vessels will provide shuttle tanker services in the North Sea under the Partnership’s existing Master Agreement with Statoil ASA (Statoil), which will free up required vessel capacity to service Teekay Offshore’s contract of affreightment (CoA) portfolio in the North Sea.
The strategic partnership with Brookfield, and related transactions, has been approved by the Board of Directors of Teekay, TOO GP, and Brookfield. Teekay Offshore’s Conflicts Committee, comprised of independent members of the board of directors of TOO GP, also approved the transactions between Teekay Offshore and Brookfield and Teekay Offshore and Teekay. Closing of the transactions, which remains subject to customary conditions, including, among others, regulatory approvals, is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2017.
DNB Markets acted as global coordinator and financial advisor to Teekay Offshore. Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. and Potter Anderson & Corroon acted as independent financial and legal advisors to Teekay Offshore’s Conflicts Committee.
Source: Teekay