Abraaj-backed company secures $100m loan

Abraaj Capital portfolio company Gulf Marine Maintenance and Offshore Service Company (GMMOS) has secured a $100 million term loan from Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to refinance existing debt and make acquisitions.

No details on the structure of this or the existing debt facilities have been disclosed. Abraaj declined to comment.

Abraaj invested an undisclosed amount in GMMOS in May 2007 from the Abraaj Buyout Fund II and owns a 51 percent stake in the oil & gas services company. The remaining equity is held by Abu Dhabi-listed investment holding company Waha Capital, which counts Mubadala Development Company and Abu Dhabi Investment Company as its main shareholders.

GMMOS focuses on marine and engineering activities related to the offshore oil & gas services industry. Its four core businesses are Stanford Marine, an Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) charter operator in the Gulf; Grandweld, a Gulf-focused OSV ship builder; GMMOS Fabrication, a steel fabricator of pressure vessels and skid modules; and Gallaagher, a mobile fleet operator.

Part of the loan will be used to expands GMMOS’ current fleet of 28 OSVs to 34 by the end of this year, with some of the new vessels destined for charter in Southeast Asia as part of the company’s planned expansion into markets beyond the GCC.

At the end of November, Abraaj put into action its own acquisitive expansion plan, completing a $375 million rights issue and purchasing MENASA-focused venture capital firm Riyada Ventures. The acquisition of the Jordanian firm marks a strategic push into the small and medium enterprise space, the firm said at the time.