Five concrete offers have been received for the companies of the Hamburg-based Sietas Group. This is the result of the second phase of the extensive search for investors by the receiver of the Sietas shipyard, Berthold Brinkmann. During the first phase, a number of potential investors were approached by HSH Corporate Finance, which had been commissioned with the task, and interested parties were asked to submit indicative offers. During the second phase, these offers were to be put into more concrete terms and confirmed after an in-depth due diligence assessment.
Receiver Berthold Brinkmann commented as follows: “The five binding offers that we have meanwhile received for the Sietas Group companies include both an overall solution as well as the acquisition of individual companies. I am optimistic that we will be able to find a solution for all three companies – Sietas shipyard, Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik NMF and Norderwerft.“
The receiver informed the board of creditors about the confirmed bids today. The five bidders from Germany, Europe and overseas are mostly strategic investors, i.e. companies from the shipbuilding industry.
In the final assessment of the offers, receiver Berthold Brinkmann will not only consider the purchase price, but also the preservation of as many jobs as possible.
In the next phase, the bids will now be examined thoroughly. Whether or not the Sietas Group companies will be sold to one or more bidders is to be decided in accordance with the board of creditors over the coming weeks.
Three bindingly ordered vessels are currently under construction at the Sietas shipyard: a RoPax ferry schedule for delivery in May 2012, a suction dredger scheduled for delivery in August 2012 and the first offshore wind farm transport and installation vessel to be designed and constructed in Germany, whose keel laying is scheduled for July 2012 (delivery in 2013).