The recent news of Ensco (ESV)-Rowan (RDC) merger (I wrote about it here) provoked discussion on whether the offshore drilling industry is really fragmented or consolidation will bring pricing power. The recent days were characterized by increased volatility, but I managed to find time to work with the Bassoe Offshore database and I want to present my findings.
The Bassoe database contains 125 (!) offshore drilling companies. Some of them are not really companies - they are just investment vehicles (which, most likely, represent unfortunate investments) or yards owning newbuild