
Ensign Energy Services makes $947M takeover offer for Trinidad Drilling

The oilfield services company is offering $1.68 per share in cash for each Trinidad share
CALGARY—Ensign Energy Services Inc. has announced a takeover offer for Trinidad Drilling Ltd. in a transaction it valued at about $947 million, including debt.
The oilfield services company is offering $1.68 per share in cash for each Trinidad share.
It estimated Trinidad’s outstanding net debt at $477 million as of June 30.
Trinidad completed a strategic review on Aug. 1 during which it reviewed a number of alternatives, but did not strike a deal. Its shares closed at $1.51 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.
Ensign, which owns about a 9.8 per cent stake in the company, says it approached Trinidad about a possible deal after the review ended, but the company’s board wanted the talks subject to a confidentiality agreement which included a lengthy standstill provision.
Ensign says it did not believe that such a provision was in the best interests of shareholders.