DUBAI: Abu Dhabi is seeking to create a national and regional oil and gas services champion through the combination of contracting firms the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and the National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC).

ADQ, a state-owned holding company, said on Sunday its subsidiary Senaat and other minority shareholders of NPCC had submitted an offer to the NMDC board that would create "an integrated oil and gas marine services company".

The proposed transaction "would create a new national and regional integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) champion," ADQ said further in a statement. It would have a footprint in markets within the MENA [Middle East, North Africa region and in South Asia.

The statement did not give any further explanation of the rationale of the deal, which coincides with difficult times for the oil and gas sector. Demand for the resources has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The transaction proposed is an asset transfer from NPCC to NMDC, ADQ said in a statement.

In exchange, NPCC shareholders would receive from NMDC an instrument, which can be converted into 575,000,000 ordinary shares in the combined group once the deal is closed.