We start with a new twist in an ongoing acquisition story out of Alabama. Miami-based investment firm Wildcat Infrastructure has submitted a nonbinding proposal to acquire Austal USA from its Australian parent company, Austal Limited. The syndicate led by Wildcat proposed an enterprise value of 1.25 billion to 1.35 billion dollars on a cash-free, debt-free basis, subject to a four-week due diligence period. That offer exceeds a competing nonbinding proposal from a South Korean defense company that valued the yard at 1.05 billion to 1.2 billion dollars. The board is now considering both proposals. Neither represents a completed transaction. Wildcat indicated it would operate Austal's U.S. operations as a standalone company, retaining the existing brand. The Alabama yard builds aluminum and steel vessels for the Navy, Coast Guard, and other government customers. Two competing bidders, both nonbinding, one U.S.-based and one South Korean. The board has a decision to make. Read the full story at workboat.com. Now to a major landing craft program that just got a lot more interesting. The Navy has awarded competitive prototype agreements to three Gulf Coast shipyards for a total of seven Landing Craft Utility seventeen hundred vessels. The three yards are Saronic Technologies in Brownsville, Texas, Conrad Shipyard in Orange, Texas, and Master Boat Builders in Coden, Alabama. The total amount obligated was 280.5 million dollars. Funding came from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. By selecting three distinct shipyards the Navy is building a resilient second source of supply for the LCU 1700. William Mahan, performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, put it plainly: this approach allows the Navy to move at the speed of relevance. Each yard will build two or three prototype craft focused on refining manufacturing plans in support of rapid production. Master Boat Builders will build three vessels with an option for a fourth, with work expected to run through 2029. This marks the first time Master Boat has served as a prime defense shipyard. Garrett Rice, president of Master Boat Builders, called the award a major milestone reflecting 45 years of workforce investment. Read the full story at workboat.com. Before our final story — a quick word about Pacific Marine Expo. If you work on the West Coast, Pacific Marine Expo is the show you can't miss. This year, Expo heads to the Seattle Convention Center's Arch Building on November 19th — join fishermen, vessel operators, engineers, port officials under one roof. Register now at pacificmarineexpo.com. We close with a conversation worth sitting down for. WorkBoat executive editor Eric Haun sat down with Todd Hornbeck, president and CEO of Hornbeck Offshore Services, days after the company completed its all-stock merger with Helix Energy Solutions Group and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HOS. The combined company now operates about 85 vessels across the U.S. Gulf, Latin America, the North Sea, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Hornbeck was direct about why this deal made sense when it did. Looking out through the windshield, he said; the lines are crossing fast on the macro. Drilling is coming back, and development follows drilling. Subsea construction and well intervention follow development. The period between now and 2030 to 2032, in his view, is going to be a strong market, particularly for what this combined company can now offer. The real synergies are not in overhead reductions. They are in bundling capabilities that no single competitor can match. A plug and abandonment campaign that once required multiple contractors can now be handled entirely within Hornbeck. Supply vessels, multipurpose support vessels, subsea robotics, and intervention tools, all from one company, one contract, one point of contact. On the defense side, the new company combines Hornbeck's vessel fleet with Helix's engineering and...
