Case Studies

Posted on

Dispute Resolution

An offshore service provider had been awarded the contract for inspection and maintenance of a Single Point Mooring (SPM) Buoy.

During inspection it became apparent that the buoy did not comply with the required specifications. It was unclear how these deviations had come into existence. Was this due to inadequate inspection and maintenance, or did the installation contractor use inferior materials, or did they apply inadequate installation methods, or did other exceptional circumstances cause damage, outside of both parties’ control?

Holwater was able to prepare an expert opinion report on what most likely had caused the damage, and assisted the offshore service provider in a fair and reasonable contractual resolution of this matter.

Posted on

Market Study

An entrepreneur with multiple companies, active in various industries, had recently decided to add an oil & gas engineering consultancy to his portfolio. This consultancy specialised in onshore process facility design and engineering.

The entrepreneur was interested in adding offshore capabilities to this company, and therefore wanted better insight in the global offshore oil and gas market, to be able to focus on a specific product and geographical area.

Holwater was able to provide such market insight and further support in establishing the key success factors to expand the engineering consultancy to include specific offshore capabilities.

Gas pipeline landfall project
Posted on

Due Diligence

A Dutch Private Equity Firm was invited to join a competitive bidding for a company active in the oil and gas industry. The bidding process covers different phases, in each phase the seller provides information containing increasing levels of detail. To advance to the next phase, the bidders are to submit a narrowing envelop of acquisition prices.

During each phase, information is presented regarding the different unique attributes of the company for sale. This includes financial statements, but also includes commercial information regarding project or sales history, the orderbook, offering pipeline, prospects and leads etc. In addition information regarding the organisation and management of the company is disclosed, any industry specific approvals, certificates, patents or other details on Intellectual Property, the use of a sales agents network, geographical focus and the competitive landscape.

The Private Equity Firm did not have specific oil & gas participation or specialists in its team, and invited an oil and gas industry expert through Holwater to participate in the various phases of the bidding process. The industry expert was able to provide support by assessing the information received, as well as additional information regarding competing technology threats, market information, both general and specific for the product and the geographical regions. The bidding process was limited in time, therefore a quick assessment of information and a fast turnaround is essential. The industry expert was also available to attend technical or commercial subject specialist meetings, being able to value information provided on the spot and ask industry specific questions.