Stx France News

Geneva-based global cruise line MSC Cruises has signed a contract with the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique to build the third and fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered MSC World Class ships.The two parties announced that a firm contract has been signed for the construction of two additional MSC World Class ships worth over 2 billion euros scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2027.In 2017, Chantiers de l’Atlantique (previously STX France) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MSC Cruises for the construction of two cruise ships. The deal included options for two additional vessels.The first of the initial two ships in the class is currently under construction at Chantiers’ shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and is due to enter service in 2022.With 205…

Italy's bid to create a European industrial champion in the shipbuilding industry faces hurdles after EU antitrust regulators said Fincantieri's bid for Chantiers de l'Atlantique would significantly reduce competition.The European Commission said the deal between two global leaders in an already concentrated and capacity-constrained market could push up prices for cruise ships as it began an investigation on Wednesday.Italy is hoping the deal will help Fincantieri, Europe's biggest shipyard…

Europe's largest shipyard Fincantieri faces a full-scale EU antitrust investigation into its bid for France's Chantiers de l'Atlantique on concerns the deal would reduce competition, three people familiar with the matter said.The European Commission's preliminary review of the deal ends on Wednesday. It will follow up with an in-depth investigation, the sources said. This lasts 90 working days but could stretch to as long as five months.The EU competition enforcer is worried the number of European players will be cut to two from three as a result of the deal, the sources said. The other competitor is a German shipyard.Fincantieri has argued Asian shipyards could pose strong competition in the next decade to try to address the Commission's worries, the people said.

The merger of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri with STX France will go ahead as planned, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, speaking after a period of tension between the Italian and French governments."The STX-Fincantieri deal will happen because we want it, because it is our ambition and because it is in our interest to create a shipyard giant, notably in Asia," Le Maire said, speaking at a Franco-Italian business summit in Versailles also attended by his Italian counterpart, Giovanni Tria."I believe in this merger, I believe in a tie-up between France and Italy in naval matters

The European Commission said on Tuesday that it would investigate Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri's planned acquisition of French counterpart Chantiers de l'Atlantique after France and Germany asked it to do so.The merged entity would not have a turnover high enough to require notification to EU regulators."However, the plan was notified for authorisation in France and Germany," the Commission said in a statement.It added that, on the basis of information provided by both countries…

Geneva headquartered MSC Cruises announced plans to enter the ultra-luxury cruise segment with a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the construction of four new vessels from Italian builder Fincantieri. The four cruise ships have a total value in excess of €2 billion and bring the number of MSC Cruises ships to be built by Fincantieri to eight.The first ultra-luxury ship is scheduled for delivery in Spring 2023, followed by one vessel per year thereafter.Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman…

The French government continues to support Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri's takeover of STX France, finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday, but cautioned against hastening a related defense naval merger.Speaking in Rome after a meeting with the Italian government, he told journalists France had not changed its position on the deal, quelling concerns the takeover could be hampered by tenser relations between Paris and Italy's new anti-establishment government.However, he warned against hastening a merger between Fincantieri and French military shipyards operator Naval Group which ha

MSC Cruises has ordered a fifth Meraviglia class cruise ship at STX France. Due to be delivered in 2023, the vessel will be equipped with a new generation of dual-fuel engines designed to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG).The agreement for the new Meraviglia-Plus vessel represents an additional investment of €900 million (approximately $1.06 billion).With today’s order, MSC will be adding 13 new ships through 2026.The announcement was made at a ceremony held at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard…

MSC Cruises, the world’s largest privately-owned cruise line as well as leading cruise brand in Europe and South America, announced that MSC Bellissima will be deployed in Asia in Spring 2020. She will become MSC Cruises’ newest flagship for the region. MSC Bellissima, MSC Cruises’ second Meraviglia-class ship, is currently being constructed at STX France’s shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and is due to first come into service in March 2019. Following her inaugural season in the Mediterranean next summer, MSC Bellissima will bring a range of cutting-edge innovations to China and Japan, including the longest LED Sky Screen at Sea at 80 metres long encompassing a stunning 96 metre long Mediterranean-style promenade, designed to become the social hub of the ship.

At 362 meters long, 66 meters wide and 70 meters high, Royal Caribbean’s new 228,081 GRT cruise ship takes the “world’s largest” title. Mega ship Symphony of the Seas was delivered today to owner Royal Caribbean International from French shipbuilder STX France who has been constructing the vessel since 2015. The new cruise liner, which boasts 18 decks total with capacity for 6,800 passengers in 2,747 staterooms and is crewed by more than 2,000 staff members, takes the size crown from her slightly smaller sister vessel, Harmony of the Seas.

The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri signed Friday an agreement to buy 50% of the share capital of France's STX Shipyard, for 59.7 million euros. This takeover is part of the agreement in principle reached in September between France and Italy, which put an end to months of tension between the two countries. "The signing takes place after the resolution of the share purchase agreement previously signed between Fincantieri and STX Europe on May 19, 2017 as a consequence of the exercise by the French State of its pre-emption right for the acquisition of the entirety of STX France share capital on July 28, 2017 and follows the signing of the share purchase agreement between the French State and STX Europe," said a statement from the company.

Celebrity Cruises’ newest cruise liner, Celebrity Edge, was floated out of dry dock for the first time at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.   The ship is the brand’s first in a new class in more than 10 years. It will now undergo final outfitting before scheduled delivery in October 2018.   Celebrity Edge will be homeported in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., making her first sailing November 21, 2018.

Shipbuilder STX France hosted a coin ceremony for MSC Bellissima as well as the cutting of first steel for the MSC Cruises’ first Meraviglia-Plus class ship, representing construction milestones for two of the cruise line’s four new ships simultaneously under construction. The other two vessels, MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview, are currently being built at Fincantieri in Italy. The MSC Cruises newbuilds are part of the company’s 10-year, nearly $10 billion investment plan, under which six of 11 new ships will have come into service between June 2017 and November 2020…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri will take effective control of STX France under shared ownership, an Italian government source said on Wednesday, ending a dispute that has soured bilateral relations. France had angered Italy by ordering a "temporary" nationalization of STX, cancelling a deal in which Fincantieri and another Italian investor had agreed to buy 55 percent. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier on Wednesday he now hoped to be able to form a European-scale naval defence firm, on a par with the rail engineering leader created on Tuesday in a tie-up between another French firm - Alstom - and Germany's Siemens.

The French and Italian governments have agreed on a shared ownership deal of the STX France shipyards, but with a clause giving France the right to take control if needed, Le Monde newspaper reported. Le Monde reported, citing an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, that Italian company Fincantieri could get 51 percent ownership, including a 1 percentage point stake lent to it by France, which France could take back. Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri declined to comment. Fincantieri had agreed in May to pay 79.5 million euros ($93.43 million) for a majority stake in STX France, which is being sold following the collapse of South Korean parent STX.

France hopes for agreement over the future of the STX France shipyards at a Franco-Italian summit on Sept. 27, but a separate deal on warship co-operation would take longer to negotiate, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday. "I would like us to have an agreement between the French and Italian governments on STX for the summit on September 27," Le Maire told reporters after a meeting with suppliers in the aerospace sector. France clashed with Italy in July after ordering a "temporary" nationalisation of STX…

Paris and Rome should be able to resolve their differences over the sale of a disputed shipyard, Italy's industry minister said on Wednesday, but he hinted that French investors might yet be hurt because of the row. The comments from Industry Minister Carlo Calenda could spell trouble in particular for French media group Vivendi , which has taken control of Italy's main telecom provider Telecom Italia (TIM). France angered Rome last month by ordering the "temporary" nationalisation of STX France shipyards…

France: Italy's Fincantieri best option. France wants a private investor for the STX France shipyards and Fincantieri is the best option but the government will be forced to consider other alternatives should negotiations with the Italian shipbuilder fail, the French Finance Minister said on Tuesday in an Italian paper. "The (STX) Saint Nazaire shipyards must not be directed by the French State. We want a private shareholder and Fincantieri today is the best industrial group to join this big European and Franco-Italian project," Bruno Le Maire told daily il Corriere della Sera in an interview. Le Maire, who will reopen talks with Italy on Tuesday…

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni received a "friendly" phone call on Thursday from French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the STX France shipyard, Libya and immigration, Gentiloni's office said. Relations between the two EU allies has been strained this month by a number of issues, including France's decision to block a bid by Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri to buy a controlling stake in STX France. Rome has also felt slighted by France's diplomatic moves in Libya and annoyed by Macron's refusal to take in migrants who have poured across the Mediterranean into Italy in recent years.   Reporting by Crispian Balmer

France will temporarily nationalise the STX France shipyard to prevent an Italian firm taking majority control, the economy minister said on Thursday, marking President Emmanuel Macron's first big industrial policy decision. As France's most avowedly pro-business leader in decades, few would have predicted the former investment banker's first big move in the corporate sector would be a nationalisation. However, his action fits with the interventionist style of other postwar French leaders. It also crosses into the defence sector, where many national governments prefer to wield influence over ownership. The Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri rejected a French offer this week of 50-50 ownership of the shipyard…

French govt has made 50/50 ownership offer to Italy; Minister says offer on the table until Thursday. The French state said on Wednesday it would nationalise the STX France shipyard if Italy does not accept its offer to split STX's capital equally, putting down a marker on the limits of economic liberalism under new President Emmanuel Macron. The threat raises the stakes in a standoff with Rome over the shipyard's fate, the only one in France with facilities large enough to build aircraft carriers. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said nationalisation would give the state more time to find a better shareholder deal, but even if temporary, it would mark the first major state intervention in the corporate world by Macron's government which was elected on a pro-business platform.

Ship owner MSC Cruises and shipbuilder STX France signed a new memorandum of understanding firming up the order of two 200,000 GRT, LNG-powered mega cruise ships, with options for two additional vessels. The four ships will become MSC Cruises’ World Class. The signing took place at the MSC Meraviglia delivery ceremony in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy. In connection with the signing, MSC Cruises and STX France today also unveiled several key features of the World Class.

Italy and France have agreed to seek a rapid solution in discussions over selling a large stake in the STX France shipyard to Fincantieri, Italy's economy ministry said on Monday. Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and Industry Minister Carlo Calenda discussed the planned sale with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in Rome. "Taking into consideration the openness of both countries to foreign direct investment, talks will continue to find a shared solution rapidly," the ministry said in a statement.