Dutch Damen Shipyard Group is in talks to purchase the local Mangalia shipyard from South Korean group Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hotnews.ro reported, quoting Korea Economic Daily.

Damen already owns in Romania a shipyard in Galati.

The Daewoo-Mangalia Heavy Industries (DMHI) shipyard is the largest shipbuilder in Romania. Daewoo has a 51% stake in it, and the Romanian state owns the remaining 49%.

The sale is part of a Daewoo Shipbuilding effort to restructure global assets. The transaction is said to amount to EUR 40 – 60 million.

“The price negotiations between Daewoo and Damen are already closed. All that is left is an agreement from the Romanian government,” according to a shipbuilding industry representative quoted by the Korean publication.

However, the Romanian Government hasn’t been informed of the Korean group’s intention to sell the shipyard, according to representatives of the Department for Privatizing and Managing the State’s Assets quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The Mangalia shipyard is located 45 km south of Constanta, on the Black Sea coast. It so far built 127 oil tankers and containers, and repaired over 300 ships. The company recorded losses of EUR 108 million at a turnover of EUR 458 million in 2016, according to official data from the finance ministry. It had some 2,400 employees.

The Damen Galati shipyard is the largest the Dutch group owns internationally. It acquired it from the Romanian state in 1999.

Source: Romania Insider