Fincantieri buy majority stake in Singapore-listed STX OSV
STX Europe AS said in an emailed statement Friday it has agreement to sell its 50.75 percent stake in the Singapore-listed offshore and specialised vessel shipbuilding firm STX OSV Holdings. Ltd to Fincantieri Oil & Gas S.p.A., part of Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. (Fincantieri), Ship & Bunker reports.
The S$730 million ($600 million) cash deal for S$1.22 per share is at a discount of S$0.08 on Friday's closing price of S$1.30. While closure is still subject to certain conditions, STX Europe AS said it expected to complete the transaction no later than the end of April 2013.
Fincantieri also made a mandatory cash offer at the same price of S$1.22 per share for the remaining shares of STX OSV. Bloomberg reported that the deal will help STX in its efforts to raise 2.5 trillion won ($2.3 billion) as the South Korean group seeks funds to repay debt, but that the sale price fell short of some analyst's expectations.
"This means cash, which STX desperately needs to survive," said Richard Park, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul. "Still, the sale price is disappointing as the market was expecting something close to the trading price," he added.
