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Plexus flows higher as it offloads Jack-up business for up to £42.5mln

Published: 04:12 19 Oct 2017 EDT

jack up oil rig
A jack-up rig is an offshore self-elevating mobile platform, the legs of which are lowered to the seabed

Plexus Holdings PLC (LON:POS) was in demand this morning after the oil and gas engineering services group sold off its Jack-up business for £42.5mln.

The buyer is a subsidiary of TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE:FTI) and will pay £15mln in cash upfront for the jack-up wellhead exploration equipment and services business, plus up to an additional £27.5mln over the next three years.

READ: Plexus lands contract with Centrica for UK Southern North Sea

As part of the deal, TechNipFMC’s FMC Technologies division and Plexus have also signed a collaboration deal allowing them to work together on the development of existing POS-GRIP IP for possible applications outside of jack-up exploration, as well as future new technologies.

Plexus said the disposal was in line with its strategy of raising awareness of its POS-GRIP friction method of wellhead engineering, adding that the sale represented a “significant milestone” given that it demonstrates the “attractiveness” of the technology.

"I am pleased to announce this important transaction with TechnipFMC, one of the world's foremost oil and gas service companies,” said Plexus chief executive Ben Van Bilderbeek.

“I believe that the disposal and collaboration agreement with TechnipFMC opens up new opportunities for our technology.

“TechnipFMC is acquiring a business which has supplied a wide range of blue chip operators of the calibre of BP, Centrica, ENI, Maersk, Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, and Total with wellheads for use on hundreds of wells worldwide and which already has a strong market reputation in the UKCS and ECS, particularly for HP/HT applications.”

READ: Plexus Holdings shares jump as it signs-up Rosneft

He added: “Going forward there are numerous opportunities for the application of POS-GRIP technology and encouragingly, as the recent contract win from Centrica for the supply of surface production application equipment demonstrates, we are already making progress in this regard.”

Plexus shares jumped 5.2% in early deals on Thursday to 81p.