STX Europe Unloads Norwegian Yard

STX Europe’s yard in Florø. Image: STX Europe

STX Europe said Wednesday that it has completed a deal to sell off its STX Norway Florø AS and STX Norway Design Florø AS units to Westcon Group AS as of December 31, 2012.

STX Florø performs ship repair and conversion activities and has in the past served companies including Farstad Shipping, Bourbon Offshore, Island Offshore, Havila Shipping, DOF, Remøy Shipping, Hurtigruten, Fjord1 and Olympic Shippingare. S​TX Norway Design Florø AS​ is situated at the Florø Yard and is a naval architecture and marine engineering company that supplies complete designs, construction and drawing packages for new builds and conversions.

STX Europe says that the order backlog of STX Norway Florø AS was NOK 59 million at the end of Q3 2012, consisting mainly of one offshore pipelay vessel, the “Deep Energy”.

“We are very proud to wish our clients and all who work with and for Westcon, including our new team members in Florø, a happy new year with this exciting announcement. The acquisition will create new opportunities as well as strengthen Westcon’s position as a leading provider of yard services in the North Sea”, says Arne Birkeland, deputy CEO in Westcon Group.

Birkeland expects positive synergy effects from combining the competence and infrastructure of the shipyard and design company in Florø with the existing Westcon companies. “Access to a highly skilled work force in the acquired companies, as well as a bigger dock, a modern plant and an attractive location will strengthen the market position of the Westcon Group”.

The acquired companies will continue as separate subsidiaries within the Westcon Group, along with companies such as Westcon Yard, Westcon Power & Automation and Westcon Løfteteknikk.

In October, STX Group, which is the South Korean parent of STX Europe, said that it was planning to aggressively improve their financial structure through overseas asset sales by the first quarter of 2013. One such sale included STX OSV, which was sold to Italy’s Fincantieri and raised a reported $600 million.

Meanwhile, STX Finland, another unit of STX Europe, is said to be at risk of cutting “several hundred” jobs after failing to clinch a billion dollar order from Royal Caribbean for their third Oasis class cruise ship. STX Finland lost the order to its rival, STX France, after financial support from the Finnish government had fallen through.

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