TUI Cruises has ordered Mein Schiff 7 and Mein Schiff 8, for deliveries from STX Finland in 2018 and 2019 as Meyer Werft and STX Finland announced they had closed their deal for Meyer to acquire a majority stake in the Finnish yard.
The State of Finland and the German shipbuilder Meyer Werft have finalised the purchase of the whole share capital of STX Finland Oy from STX Europe Ltd.
Meyer Werft and the State of Finland had published the signing of the acquisition agreement on August 4, 2014. Now the remaining open conditions for the acquisition have been fulfilled: The German antitrust authority approved the corporate acquisition after completing a merger control review. Final decisions regarding construction financing with the commercial banks have also been obtained.
The new name of the company is Meyer Turku Oy.
Meanwhile, the order of German TUI Cruises of two new cruise ships from Meyer Turku has become effective. The ordered ships are sister ships for Mein Schiff 3, which was delivered from the Turku Shipyard in May 2014, and Mein Schiff 4, which will be delivered to TUI Cruises in May 2015. The order of these two new ships is expected to create a direct employment effect of at least 10,000 man years. The ships will be delivered in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, Meyer Turku and TUI Cruises agreed on two options, with deliveries in 2018 and 2019.
Meyer Werft took up 70 percent of the shares and will carry the main responsibility for the yard’s operations and its further development. The State of Finland purchased 30 percent of the share capital through the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, a fully government-owned investment company. The investors have injected new equity into the new company, which will constitute a solid basis for further development.
Meyer Werft has over 200 years of experience in shipbuilding and is in its seventh generation of family ownership. CEO of Meyer Werft, Dr. Jan Meyer, takes the position of Chief Executive Officer of Meyer Turku.
“We now have a great chance to make the Turku yard strong again. It will not be easy – the competition in our market remains intense. Yet we found a strong and committed team in Turku. In addition there is a lot of potential in learning from each other for the benefit of all our yards in Papenburg, Warnemünde and Turku. We just have to work hard on it and constantly improve our productivity. This is the only way to ensure that we can continue the great legacy of Turku yard for many years to come”, said Jan Meyer.
Mr Jan Vapaavuori, Minister of Economic Affairs, expressed his satisfaction after the purchase. “The Finnish shipyards’ know-how is very important for the whole maritime industry in Europe. It is a high-tech industry. We have great expectations from our important investment in the Turku shipyard”, Mr Vapaavuori notes.
The Turku Shipyard is capable of building all types of vessels, but will focus on cruise ships, ferries, and special ships.
