Flensburg Shipyard has been financially rescued by a German investor, Lars Windhorst’s company Sapinda Holdings B.V, taking over 76% of the yards ownership from the Norwegian SIEM group, who will remain an active investor and will still hold the majority of the Supervisory Board in FSG . This agreement will bring a € 33 million Euros cash injection into FSG, € 10 million Euros of that coming from SIEM.
Work can now resume back to normal with the building of the Honfleur for Brittany Ferries, as all contractors had left the site a few weeks ago when the financial trouble first surfaced at the yard, after paying the penalties on W.B Yeats for delivering her six months late to Irish ferries.
This deal will guarantee the building of the new Tasmanian ferries, although the meeting of the delivery deadline is sill in question.
FSG’s order books are full, with Brittany Ferries Honfleur expected to be delivered late, toward the end of this year. 2 Ro/Ro ferries for SIEM, (First on is in build now) and a second Ro/Pax ferry to Irish ferries, before commencing construction on the new Tasmanian ferries.
With the latest developments, its possible the second Ro/Ro for SIEM maybe postponed so the sister of W.B Yeats and Tasmanian ferries can be delivered on time. It has also been rumored that Irish ferries may cancel the second order. But purely speculation at this point in time.
Translation from German “Maneger Magazin”
” Financial investor Lars Windhorst took over the majority stake in Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) on Monday, ending a liquidity squeeze at the shipyard. According to information from manager-magazin.de, Windhorst’s Sapinda Holding, owned by the Norwegian owner Siem Europe, took over 76 percent of the company’s shares.
In addition, the investor working in London and Berlin provided the shipyard with a capital increase of 33 million euros. The previous owner participated in the rescue by issuing 10 million euros of debt, which were converted into new shares.
Flensburg Shipbuilding has been part of the Siem Industries Group since 2014, which is active in the oil and gas industry. In January, the shipyard had been unable to pay its 1,800 employees salaries until the parent company stepped in. Reason are delays in the construction of a ferry and resulting contractual penalties. Other bills remained open, a guarantee of Schleswig-Holstein had burst.
With the fresh money, the FSG has good prospects again. The order books are full. By 2021, four large passenger ferries and three cargo ferries are to be built in Flensburg. Total order volume: 1 billion euros.”
Source:
Manager Magazin, In german
Press Release from SIEM
Press Release from FSG