Aker Solutions cultivates its core businesses

09.12.2010  |  Globenewswire Europe

9 December 2010 - International oil services, engineering and construction
company Aker Solutions has decided to cultivate its core businesses by creating
three separate companies. The new streamlined entities have a clear ambition to
grow in their respective markets.

The new strategic direction, which will be announced at the company's capital
markets day in Oslo today, is the conclusion of a strategy process initiated by
the Board in second quarter 2009.

"We have listened carefully to feedback from our customers and investors and
analysed how we should position ourselves to meet their expectations," says
Øyvind Eriksen, executive chairman of Aker Solutions.

"Their feedback is consistent. Our company enjoys strong positions in several
market segments. However, to further accelerate our growth, we should be more
focused, more flexible in our approach to customer specific requirements, and
much more transparent," he explains.

Leading on from this, the next step is to cultivate the current Aker Solutions
business into three separate companies:

·     The future Aker Solutions will be a fully-fledged provider of engineering,
technologies, solutions and services for the upstream oil and gas industry. Its
range of offerings will include deepwater drilling technologies, subsea oil and
gas production systems, well services, mooring and offloading systems,
wellstream processing technologies, as well as life-of-field solutions through
its maintenance, modification and operations business.

·     Aker Contractors will be a specialised EPC (engineering, procurement and
construction) company with a strong position in the North Sea field development
market, key positions in selected international target regions, and a strong
offering of distinct offshore products with a global market. The new company
will continue to target offshore and onshore EPC field development projects with
the ambition to maintain its strong position in the North Sea and further grow
its international presence

·     Process & Construction International, a leading global supplier of
engineering and construction services to onshore industry segments.


Aker Solutions
After establishing P&C International and Aker Contractors as separate companies,
Aker Solutions will become a thoroughbred engineering and technology company in
the oil and gas industry. The company has a wide range of technologies and
solutions for deepwater drilling and subsea oil and gas production systems and
products. It also offers mooring, loading and deck equipment as well as well
stream processing technology.

With the maturing of the oil and gas industry, increased recovery of oil and gas
from old fields and field life extension programmes are becoming increasingly
important for oil companies. Aker Solutions offers a wide range of technologies
and services in this respect. It is market leader in the well services segment
on the Norwegian continental shelf and a technology leader in the emerging
riser-based light well intervention market.

Its offering to customers worldwide is based on an engineering base which is
second to none in the international oil and gas industry. The new Aker Solutions
will have a dedicated engineering business stream, with more than 700 engineers
located at its hub in Oslo, Norway. Its detailed engineering offices in Mumbai,
India, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, count 1650 and 350 staff respectively.
Engineering resources dedicated to subsea, drilling, process, well services and
other business units are in addition to the above.

Aker Solutions' head office will remain in Norway.

Aker Contractors
Aker Solutions has decades of experience as an EPC contractor for onshore and
offshore oil and gas facilities covering a wide range of technologies and
solutions. Aker Contractors will be established to further leverage the key
deepwater and harsh environment experience and expertise built up through field
development projects over more than 40 years. The new company will be tailored
to meet the EPC market trends and client demands. It will get a focused and
dedicated management and a mandate to enter into partnerships in order to
establish reliable, flexible and competitive delivery models.

Aker Contractors will be a focused field development EPC company with core
engineering, fabrication and project management competence originating from the
company's two Norwegian specialised yards at Stord and Verdal and the field
development engineering hub based in Oslo. Aker Contractors' head office will
remain in Norway.

The company will have a strong foothold in the North Sea for large and complex
offshore platforms and onshore processing plants, and provide distinct offshore
products with a global market; the concrete gravity base structure (GBS) and
steel platform substructure (jackets). Moreover it will have a solid portfolio
of ongoing projects in Norway and internationally, including Kazakhstan (the
Kashagan HUC project), Russia (the Sakhalin 1 project) and Canada (the Hebron
GBS FEED)

The ambition is to maintain its strong position in the North Sea and further
grow its international EPC deliveries. Internationally, the new company will
further build its capabilities within EPC projects at a global scale, and
capitalise on deepwater, GBS and jacket technologies. It will also develop its
operations in Kazakhstan and other selected international markets where there is
a strong need for project and construction management and yard development
competency.

A proposal to list Aker Contractors on Oslo Stock Exchange will be presented to
Aker Solutions' General Meeting. Listing is tentatively scheduled for second
half of 2011.

Process & Construction International
The Process & Construction (P&C) business area is a leading global supplier of
engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, project execution and
services in three onshore industry segments: mining and metals, energy and
environmental and downstream oil, gas and processing.

As earlier communicated, P&C will in the future operate as a separate company
under a separate brand name. A final decision on the structure of the separation
is imminent, with a listing in 2011 as a possible outcome.

Not all of P&C will be part of the new company.  The US EPC centre in Houston,
and the Union Construction business located in the US and Canada, will both be
transferred to Aker Contractors to further ramp up the company's already strong
engineering and contracting capacity.

Growth potential
Aker Solutions expects that the restructuring will unleash energy and drive in
each of the new, streamlined businesses and ultimately contribute to accelerate
growth.

The market fundamentals for Aker Solutions are good. The company expects that
annual average growth in the years 2011-2015 could be in the 9-15 per cent
range, partly as a result of growing markets, growing market shares and revenues
from businesses acquired in the period.

"This will of course not happen by itself. All our current businesses must work
persistently to improve operations and customer satisfaction. Being second best
is simply not good enough for any part of Aker Solutions," says Eriksen.

Next steps
With the Board's resolution on strategic direction, preparation will now start.
On top of the Board's agenda is the appointment of CEOs for Aker Solutions and
the new entity Aker Contractors.

The work that will lead to legal and financial separation of Aker Contractors
will continue in the first half of 2011 and will be presented to the General
Meeting for final resolution. The plan is to separate Aker Contractors from Aker
Solutions through a share dividend to Aker Solutions shareholders. By that Aker
Solutions' leading shareholder Aker Holding will maintain its current
shareholding in both Aker Solutions and Aker Contractors.

Relevant amendments will be proposed to the agreement between Aker Holding's
shareholders. The planned restructuring will not involve related party
transactions between Aker Solutions' direct or indirect owners.

For further details, please see attached documentation, www.akersolutions.com
and presentations at the Capital Markets Day today.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Media:
Geir Arne Drangeid, EVP Communications, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 51 30 36,
Mob: +47 91310458

Investor relations:
Lasse Torkildsen, SVP Investor Relations, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 51 30 39,
Mob: +47 911 37 194

Suppliers:
For further information about sourcing and potential subcontracts for this
project, please visitwww.akersolutions.com/suppliers

Career opportunities:
Visithttp://www.akersolutions.com/careers

Aker Solutions ASA, through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Aker Solutions"),
is a leading global provider of engineering and construction services,
technology products and integrated solutions. Aker Solutions' business serves
several industries, including oil & gas, refining & chemicals, mining & metals
and power generation. The Aker Solutions group is organised in a number of
separate legal entities. Aker Solutions is used as the common brand/trademark
for most of these entities.

Aker Solutions' parent company is Aker Solutions ASA.  Aker Solutions has
aggregated annual revenues of approximately NOK 54 billion and employs
approximately 22 000 people in about 30 countries.
Aker Solutions is part of Aker (www.akerasa.com), a group of premier companies
with a focus on energy, maritime and marine resource industries. The Aker
companies share a common set of values and a long tradition of industrial
innovation. As an industrial owner controlling 40.27 percent of the shares in
Aker Solutions through Aker Holding AS, Aker ASA takes an active role in the
development of Aker Solutions.
This press release may include forward-looking information or statements and is
subject to our disclaimer, seewww.akersolutions.com.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl
(Norwegian Securities Trading Act)




Capital Markets Day 2010 presentations:
http://hugin.info/77/R/1470696/407575.pdf




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Source: Aker Solutions ASA via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1470696]


Unternehmen: Aker Solutions ASA - ISIN: NO0010215684