EU to Kvaerner: We Want Our Money Back
The European Commission reportedly has ordered KWW -- a German subsidiary of Kvaerner Plc -- to repay $42.31 million of state aid. The company is reportedly mulling an appeal.
Kvaerner Faces New EU Subsidy Probe
The European Commission has launched a probe into whether a German subsidiary of Anglo-Norwegian engineering and shipbuilding group Kvaerner Plc received excessive subsidies from Germany. The Commission suspects that the company may have received excessive state aid of around $59.2 million to cover possible losses during the restructuring of its Kvaerner Warnow (KWW) shipyard in eastern Germany. The Commission said it discovered last summer that KWW had given a $199 million loan to its parent company, Kvaerner. The EU executive then started investigating the origin of the money to ensure it did not contain any of the restructuring aid paid out earlier.
EU Launches New Kvaerner Shipyard Aid Probe
The European Commission is expected to start a probe into state aid to a German subsidiary of Anglo-Norwegian engineering and shipbuilding group Kvaerner Plc. The Commission suspects that the company may have received excessive subsidies of around $60.06 million to cover future losses during the restructuring of its Kvaerner Warnow (KWW) shipyard in eastern Germany. Last July, the Commission said KWW must repay $40.7 million in restructuring aid because it broke a production ceiling set as a condition of approving restructuring aid linked to the yard's privatization in 1992.
Kvaerner To Sell Shipyards, Maritime Unit
Kvaerner Plc has agreed to sell its maritime and technology unit Kvaerner Maritime for $15.9 million in cash. Separately, the group will also sell its Fjellstrand shipyards in Norway for $12.2 million to a consortium consisting of the management of Kvaerner Fjellstrand and other local investors. Kvaerner said it would sell Oslo-based Kvaerner Maritime to a consortium consisting of the management and staff of the company, and Reiten & Co. ASA. Reiten is a privately held financial house, based in Oslo, which invests in small technology businesses. The group said the sale of Kvaerner Maritime would not affect its accounts, though the sale of Kvaerner Fjellstrand would result in a small accounting loss.
