Industrial Holding News

SCHOTTEL GmbH announced it has appointed Roland Schwandt as Deputy CEO with effect from January 1, 2024.Schwandt joined SCHOTTEL in 2000 as a graduate naval architect, starting his career as a project and sales manager  in various SCHOTTEL sales segments. After briefly managing the Tug & Offshore Energy segment, in 2018 he was entrusted with the responsibility for the global sales activities of SCHOTTEL GmbH and its now 14 subsidiaries as Vice President Sales.Alongside his role at SCHOTTEL…

Maritime propulsion specialist Schottel said Tuesday it is expanding its thruster factory in Dörth, Germany, to include a logistics center with a capacity of around 4,000 square meters.A contract for the expansion has now been signed with general contractor Goldbeck from Koblenz.The new building will be annexed to the existing facility and will provide 2,634 square meters of industrial floor space and 1,326 square meters of offices. The groundbreaking ceremony for the 7.5-million-euro structure is to take place at the end of this year…

Norwegian industrial holding company Aker expects to conduct more acquisitions and other transactions in coming years, the firm's top owner said on Friday. "At Aker, and companies owned by Aker, the transaction activity will probably increase," billionaire investor Kjell Inge Roekke, who holds 67 percent of the company's shares, wrote in an annual letter to his fellow shareholders. Over the past year, Aker's investment team has been presented with an unusually high number of projects and companies seeking investors, and is prepared to take part in transactions and restructurings, he added. Roekke has an estimated net wealth of 11.1 billion crowns ($1.36 billion) according to financial periodical Kapital, which in 2015 ranked him Norway's ninth-richest person.

Aker Maritime has acquired control of about one fourth of Kvaerner for a reported $350 million (3 billion crowns). The purchase made the industrial holding firm, a group of companies operating in more than 20 countries with no previous Kvaerner ownership, the biggest shareholder in Kvaerner. "Aker Maritime ASA has today bought rights issues, shares and options in Kvaerner ASA which together amount to 26.39 percent of the company after the ongoing rights issue," Aker Maritime said in statement to the Oslo bourse. Kvaerner, which core activities include oil and gas, engineering and construction, announced in May a 2.5 billion crowns rights issue to exploit opportunities for growth and development. The subscription period ended on Wednesday.

Norwegian industrialist Kjell Inge Roekke proposed merging his Aker firms with the shipbuilding and oil and gas divisions of Kvaerner on Wednesday to combat stiffening world competition. Aker forecast synergies from 2003 worth $89-$112 million, from the link-ups, the latest in a string of proposed ties between the two groups, which are struggling in a dwindling Norwegian oil and gas services market. "We expect that most of Kvaerner's shareholders will accept this," said Roekke, a billionaire investor whose interests range from fisheries to building oil platforms. Kvaerner welcomed proposed talks on shipbuilding but reacted frostily to the suggested tie-up in oil and gas, saying it would not help the company to meet future challenges. It said Aker over-estimated synergies.

Norwegian industrial holding group Aker RGI recorded a 42 percent drop in first half operating profits, mainly pressured by weaker results for its offshore supply unit Aker Maritime. The group posted operating profits for the first six months of the year at 276 million crowns ($36 million), down from $61.4 million in the same year-ago period.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke launched a bid last week for full control of industrial holding firm Aker RGI, valuing it at about $1.09 billion. Roekke, who is chairman of Aker RGI and already owns almost two-thirds of the firm after a raid last year, said he wanted to delist Aker RGI from the Oslo bourse if his new bid succeeds. He said he is offering approximately $14 per “A” voting share and $13 per “B” share for Aker, whose interests range from offshore supply company Aker Maritime to an indirect stake in English premier league soccer club Wimbledon. Roekke will buy shares from anyone willing to sell. Under Norwegian law, he can force all minority shareholders to sell to him if he achieves 90 percent control. The offer will run from Aug. 23 to Sept.

Aker Maritime is reportedly taking full control of Aker Geo from industrial holding company Aker RGI.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke has reportedly launched a bid for full control of industrial holding firm Aker RGI, valuing it at about $1.09 billion. Roekke, who is chairman of Aker RGI and already owns almost two-thirds of the firm after a raid last year, said he wants to delist Aker RGI from the Oslo bourse if his new bid succeeds.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke failed to win full control of industrial holding firm Aker RGI after a controversial buyout bid that ended Sept. 10. Roekke, who is chairman of Aker RGI and who already held two-thirds of the group after a raid last year, reportedly gained control of almost 88 percent of Aker, just short of the 90 percent minimum needed under Norwegian law to force remaining shareholders to sell their stakes and delist the company from the Oslo bourse.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke failed to win full control of industrial holding firm Aker RGI after a controversial buyout bid valuing the group at $1.16 billion. Roekke, who is chairman of Aker RGI and who already held two-thirds of the group after a raid last year, controlled almost 88 percent of Aker under a new buyout bid that expired on Sept. 10. The figure leaves Roekke just short of his goal of 90 percent control, the minimum needed under Norwegian law to force remaining shareholders to sell their stakes and delist the company from the Oslo bourse. Roekke, who made a fortune from fisheries and has extended his empire to Aker RGI…

Fincantieri posted a nine-month 1999 operating loss of $246 million, citing continuing merchant shipping industrial problems and the evaluation of risks linked to existing orders given current market conditions. Fincantieri, a world leader in the construction of large cruise ships, posted record 1998 losses of $160 million. The company, part of state industrial holding group IRI, which is being wound down, said a current restructuring plan should start having positive effects in coming months. Fincantieri's board called ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' meetings for Nov. 26 and Dec. 7 to approve a planned recapitalization plan involving private financial investors.