SERVICE SECTOR / National-Oilwell Inc to purchase Roberds-Johnson Industries Inc.
HOUSTON, May 13 /CNW/ -- National-Oilwell, Inc. (NYSE: NOI) today
announced the signing of a letter of intent, subject to a definitive agreement
and other conditions, to purchase 100% of the common stock of Roberds-Johnson
Industries, Inc. (a highly-regarded custom design, engineering, fabrication
and assembly company) for 1.35 million shares of National-Oilwell common
stock. The transaction is expected to be a tax-free exchange and be recorded
in accordance with the pooling of interests method of accounting. The
companies expect to sign a definitive agreement and close the transaction
within sixty days.
Roberds-Johnson Industries, Inc. manufactures a broad range of equipment
used on deep water drilling rigs, including modular packages for production
facilities, small platform drilling rig packages, mud tank and engine packages
and other fabricated equipment. In addition, Roberds-Johnson has designed and
built various models of highly automated land rigs. Roberds-Johnson also
provides a full rig-up facility with employees experienced in the engineering
and construction of conventional land drilling rigs.
Joel Staff, Chairman, President and CEO of National-Oilwell, stated
"Roberds-Johnson fits National-Oilwell's strategy to be an integral part of
our customers' strategy and to enhance their economics. Roberds-Johnson
provides enhanced capabilities to further differentiate National-Oilwell from
its competitors, provide customers with more comprehensive product offerings,
and enable National-Oilwell to better serve the faster growing market segments
reaching from deep water technologies to specialized land drilling
applications. The acquisition is projected to be accretive to earnings per
share and cash flow for both 1998 and 1999."
National-Oilwell is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale
of machinery, equipment and downhole tools used in oil and gas drilling and
production, as well as in the distribution to the oil and gas industry of
maintenance, repair and operating products.
Statements made in this press release that are forward-looking in nature
are intended to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and may involve risks and
uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future
events or results. Readers are referred to documents filed by the Company with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997, which identify significant risk
factors which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements.
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