Aker Solutions agrees to new valuation of Aker deal

OSLO, April 18 (Reuters) - Norway's Aker Solutions (AKSO.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to hire an investment bank to do an independent valuation of the assets Aker ASA (AKER.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) recently agreed to sell it, and will delay the payment, it said on Saturday.

"Aker ASA has accepted that payment for the shares in the companies concerned, Aker Oilfield Services, Aker DOF Deepwater, Odim and Midsund Bruk, will not take place until the end of May," Aker Solutions said in a statement.

The deals, worth $250 million and announced on April 2, have sparked a row with the government which is a shareholder in oilfield services group Aker Solutions through its 30 percent stake in Aker Holding AS. [ID:nL2205259].

The dispute has grown beyond the mere size of the transactions to grab centre stage as a political test for the Labour-led coalition government in an election year in Norway.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the independent valuation by an international bank and delayed payment as "positive steps" from Aker Solutions.

"We have found a process to handle the disagreement, but we are not in agreement. A lot still remains," Stoltenberg told a news conference on his Labour Party's congress, which will set the party's course for the election campaign.

Aker Holding AS owns 40 percent of Aker Solutions. Aker ASA owns 60 percent of the holding company created in 2007 with help from the government.

The Aker deal has been criticised by some analysts, investors and politicians as an attempt by industrial group Aker ASA, controlled by businessman Kjell Inge Roekke, to rid itself of unwanted assets at an inflated price and at others' expense.

(Reporting by Richard Solem)