DALLAS -- Halliburton Co. announced Friday an agreement to acquire Smit International's 50 percent interest in Rockwater, an underwater engineering and construction company headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Halliburton, a large diversified energy services company, already owns the other half of Rockwater.
Rockwater will report to Halliburton through Brown & Root Inc., a Halliburton subsidiary, based in Houston.
Rockwater currently employs 2,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues of more than $250 million.
As part of the latest agreement, Smit will own the two Rockwater semi-submersible construction vessels and will lease them to Rockwater under a long-term agreement.
Norman Chambers, chief executive officer of Rockwater, said the company's current management structure will remain unchanged after the purchase.
'Rockwater's offshore activities fit very well into the overall strategy of our marine business. Rockwater provides a wide range of services for offshore oil and gas fields, beginning with drilling support and construction and continuing through customers' lifecycle needs for underwater inspection, maintenance, repair and salvage,' said Halliburton Chairman Thomas H. Cruikshank.
