Saipem: The Offshore Repair Is Real, but the Subsea7 Merger Remains Unresolved
Saipem is an Italian offshore engineering, construction and drilling contractor whose earnings recovery is now driven mainly by its Asset Based Services offshore segment, with a pending merger with Subsea7 standing as the central event-driven value lever. 2025 revenue rose to 15.5 billion EUR and EBITDA grew 29.1% to 1.716 billion EUR while pre-IFRS 16 net cash climbed to 999 million EUR, yet reported backlog slipped from 34.1 billion EUR to 29.7 billion EUR and Australia's antitrust regulator pushed the Subsea7 deal into a Phase 2 review on 2026-07-03. Rating Hold: the offshore repair is real and the balance sheet is strong, but the current price already discounts much of that progress while merger-approval risk stays unresolved, with the ideal buy zone at 3.5 to 3.9 EUR.