Fair Trade Commission Approves Blohm+Voss Acquisition

The German Fair Trade Commission has approved the acquisition of Hamburg shipyard Blohm+Voss GmbH by the Bremen-based, family-owned company Luerssen Maritime Beteiligungen GmbH & Co. KG, a specialty designer, manufacturer and repairer of yachts over 60 meters and military ships.

The purchase agreement was signed at the end of September 2016, and now, following the official approval, formal ownership will be transferred from the previous owner, the Funds of the British private equity investor Star Capital Partners.

During the approval process, the new owner has not been able to see or review detailed information on the internal organizational structures and processes within Blohm+Voss.

“With the decision from the German Fair Trade Commission, we are a major step closer to achieving our goal and we are now able to face future challenges of the difficult market environment together with Blohm+Voss,” said Peter Luerssen, Managing Partner of Luerssen Maritime Beteiligungen GmbH & Co. KG. “We now have the opportunity to gain a comprehensive insight into the existing shipyard structures and to instigate primary steps for our future cooperation. In doing so, we will determine how to use the individual capabilities of the shipyard, secure the balance between all of our sites in the future and together, navigate through the difficult market situation we find ourselves in today.”

“Over the coming weeks we will concentrate on exchanging information with our new employees on site in Hamburg in order to get a concrete picture on the ground, and on this basis, step by step, we will develop and implement the initial processes to connect the Hamburg shipyard to our group,” said Dr. Klaus Borgschulte, Technical Director at Luerssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG.

With the acquisition, the Luerssen Group will now combine six shipyards with around 2,800 employees in Northern Germany.

“With the acquisition of Blohm+Voss we are taking over a shipyard with a strategically advantageous location and versatile production facilities. We want to use these facilities to complement our existing refit and repair activities and also to offer our customers an ever better service,” said Peter Luerssen. “In addition, we would like to utilize the competence and experience of the shipyard and its employees for the new build of complex naval ships and continue their production at the Hamburg site. The construction of yachts at the Hamburg yard will depend on the overall market situation and it is difficult to judge at this time.”