By Dinesh Nair, Francois de Beaupuy and Ruth David

(Bloomberg) — Bourbon SA Chairman Jacques de Chateauvieux is contemplating a bid to take the French oil providers firm personal because it grapples with a decline in crude costs that’s hurting clients, individuals acquainted with the matter stated.

De Chateauvieux, who already owns greater than 50 p.c of Bourbon by way of his funding firm Jaccar Holdings, is talking with monetary advisers on a doable supply for the shares he doesn’t already personal, stated the individuals, who requested to not be named because the deliberations are personal. Jaccar could group up with one other investor to fund the acquisition, one of many individuals stated.

No ultimate choices have been made, any potential transaction would rely upon market circumstances and de Chateauvieux could determine in opposition to pursuing the deal, the individuals stated. De Chateauvieux “formally denies conducting any negotiations aimed at delisting Bourbon,” the corporate stated in an e-mailed assertion Wednesday.

A bid would come lower than two years after de Chateauvieux raised his stake in Bourbon from 26 p.c. At the time, he agreed to pay 24 euros a share, valuing the corporate at about 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion). De Chateauvieux’s brother, Henri, is Bourbon’s second-largest investor, and owns about 8 p.c of shares by way of his funding agency, in line with knowledge compiled by Bloomberg.

Shares of Bourbon rose 4.1 p.c to 14.20 euros in Paris Tuesday, giving the corporate a market worth of about 1 billion euros. The inventory has declined 6.9 p.c from a yr in the past.

Bourbon’s adjusted income is declining as a collapse in crude costs drive clients equivalent to Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc to chop prices. Bourbon transports gear and personnel to the business’s offshore rigs by way of its fleet of ships. The firm stated earlier this month that 2016 will seemingly see a low level within the cycle for the demand of offshore vessels, with a slight rebound within the second half.

In the more-than three many years since he took the helm, de Chateauvieux has reworked Bourbon, based in 1948 by plantation house owners on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, from a rum-and-sugar firm right into a shipowner serving oil producers in addition to the French navy.

De Chateauvieux will touch upon Bourbon’s technique on March 29, the corporate stated in Wednesday’s assertion.

–With help from Manuel Baigorri.

© 2016 Bloomberg L.P