Interested in divesting what are seen as non-core assets in a period of sustained low oil and gas prices, Qatar Petroleum has sold its stake in oilfield services firm Al Shaheen Holding to Milaha Capital, the wholly-owned investments subsidiary of Qatar Navigation QSA.

Al Shaheen Energy Services owns 50 per cent of the issued share capital in each of PII Group Limited (directly) and PII North America LLC (indirectly) (together, the PII Group). The remaining shares in the PII Group are held by various General Electric Company subsidiaries.

The PII Group is an industry leader in pipeline inspection and integrity services and operates globally. The joint venture between GE and Qatar Petroleum has been in existence since 2010. The purchase price is expected to be approximately $110-180 million, subject to certain assumptions and completion of confirmatory due diligence by HSBC, and will be funded by Milaha from existing cash reserves.

The transaction is expected to complete in Q4 2016. Milaha said it expects the deal to have a positive impact on the financial position of Milaha and its shareholders.