Aker and Kleven finalize agreement

Aker Yards has finalized the transaction with Kleven Maritime to acquire Kleven Flor? AS and Kleven Design AS. The previously announced joint venture with Damen Shipyard Group in Ukraine creates an opportunity for Aker Yards to utilize the Kleven tanker know-how in order to develop a new highly competitive line of chemical tankers.

Aker Yards has acquired Kleven Flor? and Kleven Design at a price of approximately NOK 60 million including debt, and will compensate for working capital in excess of zero. In addition there will be further payments based on performance on existing order backlog and new orders in the coming three years. The order intake part of the payments is capped at NOK 36 million. Kleven Flor? has approximately 300 employees, and there are 30 engineers at Kleven Design. The turnover of Kleven Flor? and Kleven Design was NOK 350 mill in 2005. The orderbook today consists of one juice tanker and two chemical tankers at a total value of approximately NOK 1.3 billion.

Aker Yards now comprises 17 shipyards in seven countries with approximately 20,000 employees. Aker Yards, Flor? will be a part of the business area Merchant Vessels.