Investing.com — Brazil’s antitrust watchdog CADE approved the proposed merger between and Norway’s without restrictions, Reuters reported on Tuesday, with shares in both companies jumping as much as 4% on Wednesday before paring gains.
Saipem was last trading down 0.77% at €4.4860 as of 04:08 ET (08:08 GMT), while Subsea 7 held onto modest gains of 0.23% at NOK 343.60.
CADE’s general superintendence cleared the combination of two of the world’s leading offshore engineering and installation contractors into a new entity to be called Saipem7.
The decision can still be appealed by opponents including ExxonMobil, Petrobras and TotalEnergies , which had argued the merged firm could impose higher costs and pressure clients into exclusive long-term contracts.
Separately, Saipem said it has agreed to sell its shallow-water drilling operations in Saudi Arabia to ADES for $285 million in cash, as the Italian contractor moves to focus on deepwater and harsh-environment offshore drilling.
The divested unit operates five jack-up rigs and posted revenues of around $170 million in 2025. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.