RLPC-Goldman leads $2.1 bln Abbot buyout loan

LONDON Dec 21 (Reuters) - Specialist energy private equity firm First Reserve Corp. said Goldman Sachs is leading a $2.1 billion loan backing the 906 million pounds ($1.80 billion) public to private buyout of British oil rig builder and operator Abbot Group ABTG.L.

The debt package is one of the largest deals for a European leveraged buyout since this summer's credit crunch.

Abbot Group said it had agreed to First Reserve's 390-pence per share offer on Wednesday that valued the company at 906 million pounds.

First Reserve will make the acquisition through the Turbo Alpha vehicle via a combination of committed debt facilities, underwritten by Goldman Sachs and indirect equity from FR XI-D Offshore AIV LP and Turbo Cayman.

The transaction will be the largest private equity buyout in the drilling services industry, according to First Reserve, and the first and largest European oil field services take-private.

Abbot is the largest offshore platform drilling contractor in the North Sea and the Caspian region according to its Web site, and employs over 5,300 people worldwide with operations also in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, north and west Africa, and Asia. (Reporting by Alasdair Reilly; Editing by Paul Bolding)