State-owned conglomerate China Merchants Group is exploring acquisitions of offshore rig operators, which have struggled to recover from a collapse in oil-industry spending, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. As part of this analysis, the Chinese firm has looked at various assets and companies including Seadrill Ltd. and Shelf Drilling Ltd. Deliberations are at an early stage, and China Merchants hasn’t made any formal offers as it may opt to pick off assets as opposed to full takeovers. A full takeover of Seadrill would be difficult given the company’s debt restructuring, which could impact the timing of any transaction.
