Offshore oil-and-gas and nuclear- power construction giant McDermott International Inc. is splitting off two key subsidiaries into new, publicly traded companies to avoid risk to one unit’s future federal contracts because of the parent’s overseas incorporation.
McDermott, incorporated in Panama but based in Houston, announced the change earlier this month. With the separation, to be completed in nine to 12 months, Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W), the nuclear- and government-business unit incorporated in Delaware, will relocate its base to Charlotte, N.C. The parent firm then will take the name of its offshore energy unit, J. Ray McDermott S.A (J. Ray), which will stay in Houston.