ruben.maritime

HAMBURG 13 November – A takeover offer for classification society Germanischer Lloyd by its larger French rival Bureau Veritas is likely to face strong opposition from GL’s employees’ council. Speaking soon after news of the bid had been confirmed, the council’s deputy chairman Ingo Klauke said his members regarded the move as “hostile”, adding that there was concern for jobs. The council is to meet later this week to put together a defence strategy. Klauke said he understands a decision on the offer, which is valued at about euro200M ($256M), has to be taken by 20 December. Hamburg-based GL is owned by about 50 shareholders, including ship owners, shipyards, equipment supply companies, banks and insurers. It employs about 3,200 and is expecting a rise in turnover this year to euro355M; the company is a leader in container ship classification and construction supervision, in which German owners are heavily involved. In September this year, GL had just over 6,000 ships under its class against 7,100 ships currently classed by BV. GL has also expanded in the Far East as shipbuilding activity has been transferred to Asia. In 2006, GL expects turnover generated in China to be larger than turnover in Germany for the first time. BV is owned by Wendel Investissement, which holds 99.5% of its shares. It has 23,000 employees and posted a turnover last year of euro1.64Bn.

Via Fairplay

Etiquetas: class societies, RO

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