Keppel and SembMarine have already made striking pivots to renewable energy. Of SembMarine' s net order book of S$1.82 billion as at end-2020, 50 per cent comprises orders for greener solutions. More than 80 per cent of Keppel O& M' s S$3.3 billion orderbook as at the same period involved renewables and cleaner fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas. Both these firms were long known for their traditional business in the offshore drilling rigs business.

This deal could not have come sooner for SembMarine which has been in the red for three straight years. The firm has also been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of supply chain constraints and shortages of skilled workers which have impacted project execution and completion. The recent curbs, including border controls, have further worsened its manpower predicament.

And so, its proposed S$1.5 billion cash call announced on Thursday, which follows nine months after an earlier S$2.1 billion recapitalisation, to delever and plug temporary working capital gaps is a potential life saver, although shareholders may still begrudge the resultant massive dilution and heavily discounted rights issue price. The rights issue will be backstopped by Temasek Holdings and DBS.

The latest Keppel-SembMarine announcement serves as a nice finisher to an over year-long reform involving these key entities in Temasek' s portfolio. It began with a major de-merger unveiled in June last year that saw SembMarine part ways with its former parent company Sembcorp Industries.

For much of this year and last, the refreshed narrative of Keppel and Sembcorp, each guided by their multi-year blueprints to grow big into clean energy and sustainable solutions, have overshadowed SembMarine, which was shunned by investors given its cloudy outlook and dull prospects.

The merger - far from a done deal and for now held together by merely a non-binding MOU - could switch things up for the long-weary O& M entity. This is merely the start of a mammoth exercise that will stretch over many months but the end of the long road may be one to watch most closely.