Statoil joins the deepwater company AtlantisThe offshore related company Atlantis Deepwater Technology Holding AS, (ADTH), located in Grimstad in Norway, has signed an agreement with Statoil where they will become a 12% shareholder in the company. The agreement also involves that an existing technology agreement is renegotiated, which involved pay back to Statoil for funding they have provided in the past for the development of the technology. After taking into consideration the cash contribution and the renegotiation of the technological agreement, ADTH is then in reality valued to more than NOK 150 mill. (USD 17 mill.) ADTH considers Statoil, who has earlier played a major role in supporting the development of the Atlantis deepwater concept, and has a thorough knowledge about the possibilities, as an important strategical partner and sees the agreement as a confirmation of the company¹s technology. Considering the fact that ADTH recently also signed an agreement for a 50 mill. NOK project for fabrication and testing of a full scale Atlantis prototype unit, based on funding from the Demo 2000 technology program (organised under the Norwegian Oil and Energy department) and several international oil companies, the company is now in the process of taking a step from the development phase to the commercialisation phase. After the share issue with Statoil, the major owners in ADTH will be Andreas K.L. Ugland (24%), O.T. Tønnevold (24%), Aker Kværner (18%), Statoil (12%) and Rogalandsforksning (Proffshore) (4%). With the new capital from Statoil, the company will now intensify its marketing efforts and start building up the company for commercial operation. |
