KUALA LUMPUR: SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd’s (SapuraCrest) acquisition of Clough Ltd’s (Clough) marine construction business is a positive move, which will enable the group expand its fleet capacity.

Research firm ECM Libra Capital Sdn Bhd (ECM Libra) maintained a ‘hold’ on SapuraCrest in view of the upcoming merger exercise with Kencana Petroleum Bhd (Kencana).

In a research note yesterday, ECM Libra said the acquisition of Clough’s marine construction business for RM400 million was fair.

“The Java constructor derrick pipe lay barge alone is worth RM210 million and we believe that the SURF (subsea construction, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) vessel is similarly valued.

“To note, we understand that the SURF vessel is jointly owned with subsea expertise company, Helix, from the United States,” it added.

ECM Libra said new assets would allow the group to handle other major oncoming contracts like the Malikai-Kebabangan pipe lay job, adding that it would be positive for the merged entity as Kencana did not have a SURF business.

It also said taking over the Domgas project from Clough would be a good start for the group to turn the business to the black and expected profits from the new assets to start trickling in financial year 2014 onwards.

Meanwhile, AmResearch Sdn Bhd (AmResearch) had reiterated its ‘buy’ call on SapuraCrest.

It said the development was not surprising as SapuraCrest had planned to spend up to US$900 million (RM2.7 billion) within the next two years to build more capacity and grow in the region.

“Given the group’s current foothold in offering offshore construction services in Australia, the acquisition allows further penetration into Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil,” AmResearch said.

AmResearch also said it remained positive about the synergistic benefits of the vertical integration of the two leading domestic oil and gas players as well as a potential new member of the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index.