DP World to acquire Topaz for $1.1 billion

   DP World, one of the largest terminal operators in the world, said Monday that it had acquired Topaz Energy and Marine Ltd. “for an enterprise value of $1,079 million.”
   Topaz has a fleet of 117 vessels serving the oil and gas industry, including anchor-handling tugs, platform and multipurpose support vessels, emergency response and recovery vessels, module carrying vessels, crewboats, workboats, tugs and barges.
    Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman and chief executive officer of DP World, said the deal complements the operations of the company’s existing P&O Maritime Services business, which maintains more than 300 vessels globally. The P&O Maritime Services fleet also includes oil and gas support vessels as well as tugs and pilot boats, cargo services vessels and research vessels.
   Ranked in December as the world’s fourth-largest container port operator by Lloyd’s List, DP World acquired P&O Maritime Services as part of its 2006 purchase of the P&O Group of Companies. That deal also included terminal assets, but a major controversy erupted after political opposition arose in the U.S. to the idea of a company in the Middle East operating marine terminals in the U.S. Within months, DP World sold its interests in U.S. terminals that were part of the P&O sale. Those assets eventually became Ports America.
   DP World said Topaz has “a particularly strong position in its core Caspian Sea market. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world and one of the most strategic oil basins. Long-term contracts and high barriers to entry characterize the basin, which holds approximately 6% of global oil reserves.”
   Topaz also has relationships with BP, Chevron, Dragon Oil, Dubai Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Tengizchevroil.