Scandlines ferry “Prinsesse Benedikte”, image courtesy Alexander Marks
FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) – Private equity groups 3i and Allianz Capital Partners have attracted three tentative bids for their jointly-owned ferry group Scandlines, a person close to the transaction said.
“The offers handed in by the Friday (April 5) deadline all came from private equity investors,” the person said.
3i and ACP each own 50 percent of the southern Baltic’s largest ferry group, which carries roughly 12 million passengers annually. In October, the investors appointed Goldman Sachs and ING to organise the sale, hoping to get up to 1.4 billion euros ($1.80 billion) for the group.
Private equity investors including Apollo, Axa Private Equity and Nordic Capital have shown interest in Scandlines, the source said, adding it remained unclear if they were the among the bidders.
Danish rival DFDS Seaways and Italian peer Grimaldi, shipping industry players that had been expected to consider a bid for Scandlines, did not participate in the auction, the source said.
3i and ACP, the private equity arm of German insurer Allianz declined to comment, while Apollo, Axa and Nordic were not immediately available for comment.
3i and ACP bought Scandlines at the peak of the buyouts boom in 2007, paying 1.5 billions euros backed with 1.28 billion euros of debt, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, alongside minority investor Deutsche Seereederei which was bought out in 2010.
Scandlines had revenue of 611 million euros in 2011 and total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 167 million.
The group will publish 2012 figures next week but has already said that freight and passenger volume on its vital Germany-Denmark services has risen compared to the year earlier.
Scandlines has been buffeted by high oil prices, competition from toll bridges on some routes and faces a threat to onboard retail sales as the harmonisation of taxes between Denmark, Germany and Sweden reduces the incentive for passengers to buy wines and spirits.
Separately, an undersea road and rail tunnel between Denmark and Germany across the Fehmarn Belt is being planned for 2020. If it goes ahead, it would hit passenger numbers on one of busiest routes for Scandlines.
by Kirstin Ridley (Reuters) Newcastle United football club co-owner Amanda Staveley on Monday lost a London High Court battle with a Greek shipping tycoon over a historic debt of nearly...
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. At least...
March 19 (Reuters) – Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium’s blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime...
March 19, 2024
Total Views: 1069
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.