DUBAI: Dubai-based Topaz Energy and Marine plans to raise $550 million in debt from banks in early 2015 to lower its borrowing costs and fund potential expansion at a time when the oil services market is softening, its CEO said.

Topaz, a unit of Oman’s Renaissance Services, has chosen investment bank Rothschild to coordinate the raising of a seven-year loan from banks, CEO Rene Kofod-Olsen said.

It plans to use the proceeds to refinance an existing $380 million loan package at a lower interest rate and to provide cash for potential expansion.

“We want to have the firepower should there be any interesting M&A opportunities for us going forward, but also for individual assets,” he said.

Topaz, with around 100 ships that support the offshore energy business in the Caspian Sea, the Middle East and West Africa among other areas, is considering the purchase of two medium-sized vessels designed for subsea work, which would be delivered in late 2016, he added.

The new debt comes on top of a $350 million debut high-yield, five-year bond, which the company sold in October 2013 through its Nico Middle East subsidiary.

It also follows the injection in August of $75 million in capital from Standard Chartered Private Equity in exchange for a 9.8 percent stake. The bank has an option to invest a further $100 million in the firm, Kofod-Olsen said.

The added financing will help the company weather a slump in the sector as oil prices have fallen by around 30 percent since June.