Pella Shipyard Buys Sietas Shipyard
After an intensive search of over two years, the insolvency administrator, Berthold Brinkmann, has found a strategic investor for the renowned Sietas Shipyard in Hamburg: Pella Shipyard from Otradnoye near St. Petersburg, Russia is taking over the company as of March 10, 2014. The purchase agreement with the Hamburg-based company Terraline GmbH, a member of Pella Shipyard Group, has already been concluded and officially certified by a solicitor, but is still awaiting approval by the creditors’ committee and banks. Following the takeover, Terraline will be renamed Pella Sietas GmbH. The buyer has undertaken to operating Sietas Shipyard as shipyard for a further eight years at least. Pella Shipyard already has orders for the construction of tugs, icebreakers and supply ships, as well as other ships with high level equipment requirements.
Pella Shipyard is buying Sietas Shipyard as part of transferral restructuring, by means of which approximately 120 employees are being kept on and/or re-employed via the Sietas transfer company by the end of April. The buyer intends increasing the number of employees at Sietas Shipyard to at least 400 by the end of 2016; its goal is furthermore to enhance the employment options at a variety of supply companies. Pella Shipyard is moreover planning to invest at least €15 million in the infrastructure at Sietas Shipyard by the end of 2016. The parties agreed to treat the purchase price in the strictest confidence; the buyer is funding the purchase via its own assets.
Administrator Berthold Brinkmann explained, “I am delighted that we have found a strategic investor for Sietas Shipyard in the company Pella Shipyard. It is not only acquiring one of Hamburg’s long-established maritime companies, but also securing the expertise of the experienced Sietas employees. In addition, a further 280 employees are to be taken on by the end of 2016, impressively underlining the trust Pella Shipyard puts in the competence of this north German shipbuilder.“ Berthold Brinkmann has been continuing shipbuilding activities on the banks of the Elbe river in Hamburg for more than two years during the entire insolvency proceedings.
Berthold Brinkmann is planning to soon deliver the first jack-up vessel for offshore wind installations to have been developed and built in Germany to the renowned Dutch marine engineering company Van Oord. The administrator had renegotiated the construction contract during the Sietas insolvency proceedings and then built the vessel without any state aid or loans. Sietas Shipyard completed another new construction project in October 2012, and handed over the suction dredger “Eke Möbius” to its customer Josef Möbius Bau-GmbH on schedule.
