The new company will combine technology portfolios, expertise and operations platforms to bring carbon capture solutions to market, faster and more economically.

OSLO, Norway, March 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aker Carbon Capture ASA (OSLO: ACC) today announced an agreement with SLB to combine their respective carbon capture businesses to support accelerated industrial decarbonization at scale.

Bringing together complementary technology portfolios, leading process design expertise and an established project delivery platform, the partnership will leverage ACC's commercial carbon capture product offering and SLB's new technology developments and industrialization capability. It will create a vehicle for accelerating the introduction of early-stage technologies into the global market on a commercial, proven platform. Following the transaction, SLB will own 80% of the combined business and ACC will own 20%.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) playing a critical role in the net-zero transition - estimating that over one gigaton of CO2 per year will need to be captured by 2030, scaling up to over six gigatons by 2050.

"The decision to combine ACC and SLB's carbon capture business is underpinned by a strategic vision that reflects our commitment to accelerate the industrial adoption of carbon capture," said Egil Fagerland, chief executive officer, ACC. "By partnering with SLB, we will become a diversified, global carbon capture player. Our combined suite of technologies and global reach will make a platform positioned to profitably scale faster, to the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders."

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by end of the second quarter, 2024.

Transaction details

At closing, SLB will pay NOK 4.12 billion in cash to ACC for the purchase of 80% of the shares in Aker Carbon Capture Holding AS (ACCH), which holds the business of ACC. In addition, ACC will retain NOK 0.40 billion in cash. The sum of the purchase price for ACCH and retained cash corresponds to a value per ACC share of NOK 9.19. In addition, ACC will be entitled to a performance-based payment of up to NOK 1.36 billion.

The performance-based payments will be subject to the achievement of certain milestones, order intake and margin targets. The payments will be due when certain targets are met in the period 2025 to 2027, weighted towards the end of the period upon finalization of the financial statements for 2027. The performance-based payments will carry a market-based interest rate from the date of closing until the date of payment.