DALLAS -- Energy Service Company Inc. and the investment firm of R.D. Smith and Co. Inc. said Friday they closed the purchase of the remaining 31.3 percent of senior debt and equity securities of Penrod Drilling Corp.
Penrod, one of the largest offshore drilling companies, had been owned by the trusts of the Hunt brothers of Dallas. The trusts of the brothers -- Nelson Bunker, Lamar and Herbert Hunt -- relinquished control of Penrod in March to a syndicate of banks to settle a large overhang of the company's debt.
ENSCO and R.D. Smith had already acquired a controlling interest in Penrod earlier this year.
Friday's announcement said the securities were purchased from the four remaining members of the original Penrod bank group -- Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co., Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, and an affiliate of Midland Bank PLC.
ENSCO and R.D. Smith groups now have 100 percent ownership of Penrod, the companies said.
To provide financing for the purchase of the Penrod debt and equity securities and the recapitalization of Penrod, the groups said they have recently closed sales of five semi-submersible, five older jack-up, and 33 land rigs producing proceeds of $246 million.
ENSCO spokesman C. Christopher Gaut put the total cost of the Penrod acquisition at $430 million.
He declined to say whether there would be any job reduction in Penrod, which currently employs about 2,000 people worldwide.
Eventually, the Penrod rig fleet was expected to consist of 18 to 20 offshore rigs, eight to 10 land rigs, and two supply vessels, the companies said.
It said the offshore rig fleet represented one of the newer fleets in the industry with an average rig age of about 10 years.
The announcement said Penrod was expected to continue to operate as a separate entity and that ENSCO, at the direction of the Penrod shareholder representing its affiliate group of investors, and R.D. Smith, will oversee the day to day operations of Penrod.
The ENSCO Group of investors, which will own 58.6 percent of Penrod's senior debt and equity, consists of ENSCO; Natural Gas Partners, L.P.; Rainwater, Inc.; PMJ Investment Corp.; The Goldman Sachs Group, L.P.; and a subsidiary of Bankers Trust New York Corporation.
The group by R.D. Smith, of New York, will own the remaining 41.4 percent of the senior debt and equity.
