Ferry News Archive
Scandlines cuts stake in Mols Linien
Date: 16 Oct 2006 00:00 Source: Lloyds ListUnder the hammer Baltic ferry group Scandlines has reduced its stake in Danish operator Mols Linien to 30% as it prepares for the finale in its €1bn ($1.25bn) public sector sell-off.
The Danish and German government owned company has pruned back its holding by 10% to ensure that its buyer will not be forced to make a full offer for the domestic service operator.
Scandlines Denmark’s sale of 283,334 shares at DKr440 ($73.7) each was worth DKr125m and set the value of the five-ferry operation at around DKr1.25bn. The Copenhagen arm of the dual state-run group said it would retain 849,999 shares in the company worth DKr373m.
The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority this summer advised that a buyer of Scandlines, if it had retained a 40% holding, would not be exempt from making a mandatory offer. Deutsche Bahn and the Danish Ministry of Transport in August wrote a joint letter to Scandlines calling for a reduction of the shareholding to around 30%.
The government owners said they wanted flexibility to decide on the long-term future of Mols-Linien, and also did not want to create market uncertainty and fuel share speculation.
Mols-Linien has reported steadily improved sales since 2001 with DKr717m booked last year, although pre-tax profits slid in 2005 to DKr8m from DKr43m a year earlier. The Danish ferry operator has been hit by increased competition from the Great Belt link and spiralling bunker costs that added DKr50m to its fuel bill in 2005.
Mols-Linien’s fleet includes the 1998-built, 780 passenger capacity Incat high-speed ferry Max Mols, the 1996-built, 450 passenger Seajet’s Mai and Mie Mols and two 600 passenger, 1,200 lane metre ferries Maren and Mette Mols — both 3,800 dwt, 1996-built.
The Jutland-based company runs three services across the southern Kattegat with high-speed craft between Århus and Ebeltoft-Odden, and its ferries to Kalundborg. Last December, Mols-Linien sold its ferry terminals in Ebeltoft and Sjaellands Odde to raise DKr227m with lease-back terms arranged.
Scandlines’ move to sort out shareholder duties prior to new ownership comes as Danish reports this week said that only three finalists are left in an auction shortlist that comprised some 20 runners earlier in the year.
Swedish shipping group Stena, which has been favoured as an industrial buyer for its operating partner, is in the last round, and is backed by venture capital boutique 3i Group. The other two surviving would-be owners are Bain Capital and Baltic Ferry Development Group.
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