Stolt-Nielsen announced an agreement in principle between Stolthaven Terminals BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNSA, and Oiltanking GmbH whereby Stolthaven Terminals BV will acquire a 50% interest in Oiltanking Antwerp N.V. for a total consideration of approximately $64 million, which is paid partly in cash and partly by assumption of outstanding debts. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and will be retroactive to January 1, 2006.
The terminal will be renamed Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp and will continue to operate as an independent liquid and gas storage provider. Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp is located on the right bank of the Schelde River in the world's second-largest petrochemical complex that has an infrastructure long established and dedicated for marine and land logistics. The terminal has a capacity of 500,000 cubic meters of tank storage serving the liquid chemical, chemical gas, and petroleum markets. The terminal is also linked to the surrounding industry by 26 pipelines.
The terminal, a specialty chemical hub in the Antwerp Rotterdam Amsterdam ("ARA") region, is now being expanded to serve the growing needs of its customers. The expansion includes the building of 21 new
chemical tanks, increasing the existing chemical capacity by 50,000 cubic meters.
Two new loading racks for trucks and railcars and a new finger pier with four berths also are being constructed. The new finger pier will include two berths designed for parcel tankers and will allow the facility to bring in ships up to 125,000 deadweight tonnes.
"This is a logical investment for Stolthaven Terminals within our strategy of expanding our terminal network to serve our customers better as well as facilitating turnaround and improving the utilization of our parcel tanker fleet," said Walter Wattenbergh, Managing Director of Stolthaven, SNSA's terminal unit. "Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp will be the hub for our growing transportation and storage business in Europe."
"The joint venture with Stolthaven Terminals will allow us to further grow our position in the ARA chemical storage market," added Gust Spaepen, Managing Director of the Oiltanking Group. "Together with Stolthaven Terminals, we will be able to further improve the terminal's performance, while also allowing us to better serve our existing customers and add new customers."