Saudi Arabia’s Industrialization and Energy Services Company (TAQA) announced that its drilling subsidiary, Arabian Drilling Company (ADC), has agreed to acquire Schlumberger’s Middle East drilling rigs business in Kuwait, Oman, Iraq and Pakistan for $415 million (SR1.56 billion).

This acquisition will add 18 rigs to ADC fleet and welcomes more than 1,000 employees to the ADC family when the transaction is completed.

The new ADC will have a fleet of 67 land and offshore rigs and a workforce of more than 5,900 employees.

For TAQA, the expansion represents a major step forward in its ongoing group-wide transformation and growth strategy.

"This will represent a major step towards our corporate goal of expanding our footprint in the region and will help us go well beyond our initial objective of having 60 rigs by 2021. We will be a major player in the region and a strong Saudi company fully aligned with the Kingdom’s 2030 vision of building world class Saudi companies," said a statement from the company.

"The acquisition will help us diversify our customers’ portfolio and give us access to promising markets. It will enable us to grow our employee base and will present opportunities to our employees to work in different environments and develop our talent in line with our ambitious talent development strategy," it added.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.