STX acquires Aker Yards stake

STX Group in South Korea has paid $800 million to become the biggest shareholder in Norway’s Aker Yards ASA, moving into cruise liners as competition increases with Chinese builders.

New stock worth $300 million will be sold and $500 million will be borrowed to buy 39.2% of Europe’s biggest shipbuilder, STX Shipbuilding Co. and STX Engine Co. said in filings today. The stake in Oslo-based Aker Yards would enable the fifth- biggest South Korean shipyard to start building cruise liners, which are more profitable than mid-sized containers and chemical carriers.

Bigger rivals Samsung and Daewoo are also venturing into liners as Chinese yards aim to double production by 2015 to overtake South Korea as the world’s biggest shipbuilding nation. ???This is definitely part of STX Shipbuilding’s efforts to diversify the type of vessels it builds,?? said Sung Ki Jong, a Seoul-based analyst at Daewoo Securities Co. ???With the stake, it will allow them to take the first step into making cruise ships.??

STX Group’s purchase is the biggest overseas acquisition by a South Korean shipyard. The group has been expanding its businesses by acquiring domestic companies, including STX Shipbuilding in 2001 and STX Pan Ocean Co. in 2004. The stake in Aker would make it the biggest shareholder in Aker, leapfrogging UBS AG, BNP Paribas SA and Aker Yards itself, which have a combined 19.9%.