Dutch group Damen, which owns the Galati shipyard in Romania, will buy the majority stake in Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries (DMHI), which owns the Mangalia shipyard, it officially announced.

The deal will place Damen on the leading position for ship building in Romania.

The seller is South Korean group Daewoo, and the deal already has the Competition Council approval. Damen will control the Mangalia shipyard, while the Romanian state continue to hold 49% of the shares via a company called Şantierul Naval 2 Mai S.A. Mangalia.

DMHI is the biggest ship builder in Romania, with a EUR 445 million turnover in 2016, the year when it also posted a loss of some EUR 109 million. The year before, its loss stood at some EUR 116 million. Last year, it fired 200 employees, ending the year with 2,400 staff.

Daewoo’s naval division started sale talks last year, part of its worldwide restructuring strategy.

Buyer Damen Galati posted a EUR 130 million turnover in Romania last year, some EUR 30 million more than the year before. Its net profit however fell from around EUR 5.6 million in 2015 to some EUR 240,000 last year.

Earlier this year, the South Korean media was giving a USD 44 million to USD 70 million price tag for the deal.

editor@romania-insider.com