Finnish state and Meyer Werft buy STX shipyard in Finland

South Korean conglomerate STX has agreed to sell its Finnish shipyard in Turku to German competitor Mayer Werft and the Finland’s government, the buyers said Monday.

Meyer will take a 70 percent stake in the troubled shipyard, which Helsinki has been scrambling to keep alive in a bid to protect much-needed jobs.

“We will also make an equity injection to strengthen the yard, and that should also serve as a signal to everybody that we really mean it seriously,” Mayer Werft managing director Jan Meyer told a press conference.

The Turku shipyard fell into a deep crisis when STX in 2012 opted to build a one-billion-euro ($1.3-billion) cruise ship in its French shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, rather than Finland.

Despite obtaining public subsidies, STX had planned to close down the shipyard if it failed to find a buyer.

That would have cost some 1,300 jobs at a time when Finland is already mired in recession and struggling to contain rising unemployment and ballooning public debt.

Helsinki will buy the remaining 30 percent of Turku through Finnish Industry Investment (FII), which it said “has the possibility for an exit at a later stage”.

“We are convinced that the company can be turned very quickly into the black,” Finnish Economy Minister Jan Vapaavuori said at the press conference.

Meyer Werft said in a statement the acquisition will “strengthen the yards in Papenburg, Turku and Rostock” and mean the company can offer “more flexibility” to its customers.

No financial details were given for the deal, which is subject to approval by competition authorities and still needs to secure financing with the banks.

Shipbuilding is a historically important industry for the city of Turku, which was hit by the bankruptcy of Finnish Waertsilae Marine in 1989.

Norway’s Kvaerner built a new shipyard in the city in the 1990s, which later merged with fellow Norwegian Aker before being bought by STX in 2008.

Meyer Werft was founded in 1795 in Papenburg, in north west Germany, and employs some 3,100 people.

“A greatly respected industrial partner with long traditions in the field now fully works to bring its expertise to further help develop the Turku shipyard,” Finnish Economy Minister Jan Vapaavuori said.

The Turku shipyard is currently building a cruise ship for Germany’s TUI for around one billion euros, and another two are on order.

The new company will be called Meyer Turku Shipyard.

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