# Saipem completes Saudi shallow-water drilling sale to ADES

> A separate charter arrangement preserves Saipem's use of Perro Negro 10 for its existing Mexican operations.

- Topic: Corporate
- Event date: 2026-09-15
- First published on EPC Feed: 2026-10-28T15:40:11.945Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T15:40:11.945Z
- Companies: Saipem
- Countries: Saudi Arabia, Mexico
- Page: https://epcfeed.com/news/saipem-completes-saudi-jackup-sale-to-ades


Saipem completed the sale of its entire interest in Saudi Arabian Saipem Limited to ADES Saudi Limited Company, according to an announcement dated 15 September 2026. The buyer is an indirect subsidiary of ADES Holding Company. The completion follows the transaction announced on 24 June and comes after the applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions were satisfied. The September event is therefore the closing of a previously announced disposal, rather than a new agreement to explore a possible sale.

The transferred business operates in Saudi Arabia's shallow-water offshore drilling segment. Saipem identified three owned jack-up rigs within the company: Perro Negro 7, Perro Negro 8 and Perro Negro 10. Two additional jack-ups, Perro Negro 11 and Perro Negro 13, are leased. That ownership distinction is important when assessing the assets described by the transaction. A list of five operating units does not mean the subsidiary owned all five rigs before the disposal.

At closing, Saipem and ADES also entered into a bareboat charter arrangement covering Perro Negro 10. The agreement allows Saipem to continue using that rig in ongoing Mexican operations. The release explicitly links the arrangement with continuity of activity and fulfilment of existing obligations to customers. The disposal of the Saudi subsidiary consequently does not mean that every rig associated with the business immediately ceases to be available for all Saipem work elsewhere.

Saipem framed the transaction as part of a strategy to concentrate its offshore drilling portfolio on deepwater and harsh-environment activities. Those segments involve a different operating focus from the shallow-water jack-up business being sold. The announcement identifies the portfolio direction and the assets concerned, while the charter shows how an existing operating commitment was addressed alongside the corporate change. It does not describe the disposal as an exit from all offshore drilling.

The sequence recorded in the release provides three separate milestones for tracking the transaction: the June announcement, satisfaction of approvals and conditions, and September completion with an associated charter. For industry readers, the central development is the completed transfer of the Saudi shallow-water business and the preservation of a specified Mexican operating arrangement. It is a change in ownership and fleet access, distinct from the award of a new field-development construction package or a new drilling campaign.

## Sources

1. [Saipem: divestment of Shallow Water Drilling's operations in Saudi Arabia completed](https://www.saipem.com/en/media/press-releases/2026-09-15/saipem-divestment-shallow-water-drillings-operations-saudi-arabia). Company release, Saipem, Published 2026-09-15, Read 2026-10-28.