Planned Blohm + Voss sale falls through

The talks between ThyssenKrupp and Abu Dhabi Mar covered the sale of merchant newbuilding and repair and the creation of a joint venture involving co-operation in naval surface vessel production at subsidiaries Blohm + Voss and HDW Shipyard in Kiel Gaarden. They had been going on since 2009. Recent reports said failure had been anticipated following delays in signing a deal.

A ThyssenKrupp official was quoted as saying the political framework conditions in the Middle East had changed. A statement from ThyssenKrupp in Essen, also said the two sides: “have agreed to cease their efforts to form the envisaged joint-venture around the naval and non-naval shipbuilding business of Blohm+Voss in Hamburg”.

It added: “both parties believe that the commercial drivers for the transaction have weakened to a point that opportunities previously identified are no longer commercially viable”.

However the sale of HDW’s merchant business to Abu Dhabi is going ahead and contracts have already been signed, the statement said. Among other holdings, ThyssenKrupp has already sold Nobiskrug in Rendsburg to Abu Dhabi Mar and the Nordseewerke Shipyard in Emden to the SIAG Group. It remains keen to complete its withdrawal from merchant shipbuilding.

German officials were quoted as saying that new talks on the sale of Blohm + Voss merchant shipbuilding activities were already being held with interested parties.