Georgina Prodhan News

Questions over the purchase of German submarines that started with media reports of a potential conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyer have mounted in the last 10 days, spurring investigations in two countries. At one level the issue is straightforward: Israel wanted to replace some of its ageing submarines and maintain its military edge against potential threats like Iran, so it ordered three new submarines, costing $1.5 billion, from Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, with delivery in about a decade. The first sign of a hiccup arose when Israeli media pointed out that the intermediary on the deal, Israeli businessman Miki Ganor, had retained Netanyahu's personal lawyer, David Shimron, to act on his behalf in the transaction.

German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd priced its initial public offering (IPO) at the low end of a revised range, giving the group a market capitalisation of about 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 bln) or less than half the original target. Hapag-Lloyd shares were sold at 20 euros ($21.92) apiece, the German shipping company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. The company had originally targeted a market cap of more than 5 billion euros, but in wobbly markets offered shares for 23-29 euros each.

German industrial group ThyssenKrupp is moving one of its top managers to focus on a hotly contested $35 billion bid to build stealth submarines for Australia, it said on Thursday. Hans Christoph Atzpodien, 60, will leave his post as head of the German group's Industrial Solutions division to concentrate on Marine Systems, one of the division's four units, which includes submarines, naval vessels and ships. "The bidding for the Australia project in particular is a major opportunity for Marine Systems requiring the full attention of its top management," the Essen-based steel-to-elevators group said in a statement. ThyssenKrupp is competing with a Japanese consortium and French state-owned naval giant DCNS for the contract.

Germany's Thyssenkrupp sees its submarine business as making an important contribution to its growth targets, the head of its Industrial Solutions business area said on Tuesday. "The submarine business is part of our growth story," Hans Christoph Atzpodien told journalists at a briefing, responding to questions about whether the unit was a good fit in the steel-to-elevators industrial group. Atzpodien said his business area - which ranges from plant engineering to naval vessel building - aimed to reach its sales target of 8 billion euros ($8.95 billion) roughly by the end of the decade. He added that Industrial Solutions' operating profit margin target of 6-7 percent…

Germany's ThyssenKrupp is determined to take part in a selection process it hopes will take place to build Australia's next-generation submarine fleet, it said on Monday. "ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems... is committed to take part in the competitive evaluation process for the design and construction of Australia's future submarines," the German industrial group said in a statement. "We welcome the federal government's announcement of a competitive evaluation process to select Australia's future submarine," it said. Reporting by Georgina Prodhan

German industrial group ThyssenKrupp is not in talks to sell its submarine unit nor is it in talks to sell its stainless steel unit VDM, its chief executive said on Friday. "At the moment, there are no talks whatsoever about selling the submarine business," Heinrich Hiesinger said in answer to a question at the annual shareholders' meeting. ThyssenKrupp is currently fighting for its submarine unit to be allowed to take part in a multi-billion-dollar submarine tender in Australia. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

Germany's Siemens plans to offer more than $6.1 billion, or $80 per share, for U.S. compressor and turbine maker Dresser-Rand, Germany's Manager Magazin said on Friday. Siemens declined to comment on the report. Such an offer would put Siemens in competition with Swiss pump maker Sulzer, which said on Wednesday it was in talks on a potential merger with Dresser-Rand.   Reporting by Georgina Prodhan

Gazprom has abandoned plans to build a section of its disputed South Stream gas pipeline to Italy, two sources close to the company said on Wednesday, a day after Gazprom announced a deal with OMV to build a branch to Austria. The memorandum of understanding with the Austrian oil and gas company foresees building a section of the giant pipeline from Hungary to OMV's Central European Gas Hub near Vienna. "The additional Italian spur option was effectively ditched. Gas will now be delivered to the Austrian hub, from where it could go to many destinations in Europe along the existing pipelines," one of the sources said. Gazprom is pushing ahead with South Stream…

The chief executives of Gazprom and OMV held talks on Tuesday about supplying Russian gas to Europe using routes that bypass Ukraine, they said in a statement. Gazprom's Alexei Miller and OMV's Gerhard Roiss said they had discussed "optional alternative supply routes" including the Nord Stream and Opal pipelines. Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine - an important transit country for Russian gas - has resulted in European Union and U.S. sanctions, sparking fears of supply cuts that could affect several European countries. Earlier on Tuesday Gazprom said that Russian gas exports to Europe throughUkraine, through which almost half of Russia's Europe-bound gas passes, remained stable despite the standoff between Moscow and Kiev.

Europe should avoid more sanctions against Russiaover its role in Ukraine and continue to pursue dialogue with Moscow, the chief executive of OMV , the longest-standing Western trade partner of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, said. The Austrian energy group signed its first long-term supply contract with the Soviet Union in 1968 and is a major importer of Russian gas. "None of us can estimate what it would mean if no gas came from Russia to Europe, and if we can't calculate the consequences we shouldn't threaten it," Gerhard Roiss told Austrian ORF radio in an interview aired on Saturday. The European Union is dependent on Russia for about a third of its oil and gas, and about 40 percent of the gas is shipped through Ukraine.

Austrian energy group OMV and its partners have started oil and gas production on the Gudrun platform in the Norwegian North Sea, OMV said on Monday. The company said Gudrun was expected to produce in a range of 35 million to 45 million barrels of oil equivalent for OMV, which acquired a 24 percent interest in a major deal with Norway's Statoil last year. OMV added that the production start was on time and below the cost estimate in the plan for development and operation. Operator Statoil holds 51 percent in Gudrun and GDF Suez has 25 percent. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Anthony Barker)