There is no reason why classification societies should not be listed since their activity can depend neither on the clients nor on the shareholders. That’s the reply from Ugo Salerno, ceo of Italian Rina Group to statements made by Alastair Marsh, head of Lloyd’s Register, who told Maritime CEO 10 days ago: “How can classification societies be independent and objective if listed?”.
Yesterday, the head of DNV GL, Remi Eriksen, also said his class society had no intention of listing either.
Salerno explains the rationale for going to the markets.
“Rina is considering the opportunity of an IPO in the medium term,” he says, “because a higher flow of fresh money can help the company to proceed with its growth strategy launched in the past. A strategy which made it possible to broader our competences and to quadruple the company’s size in the last decade, also facing times of crisis in the best possible way.”
Rina’s listing is expected to take shape not before 2018 in Milan or London.
France’s Bureau Veritas is the only listed classification society at present – its Paris IPO was in October 2007.
Salerno also stresses: “The capacity for a company like Rina to remain independent even with a spreading share ownership or a free float share on the financial market would not be undermined. We, as many other classification societies, have always been able to manage with integrity any business relation with our shareholders and clients that pay for our services. That’s exactly the same business model that applies also to the auditing business industry.”
Rina Services is the subsidiary active today in classification, certification, inspection and testing services. The Genoa-based firm has rapidly become a multinational group, which delivers verification, certification, conformity assessment, marine classification, environmental enhancement, product testing, site and vendor supervision, training and engineering consultancy across a wide range of industries and services. In 2015 Rina’s turnover was just over €378m ($425m), with a work staff in excess of 3,000 employees and 163 offices in 60 countries worldwide. Thanks to the takeover of UK-based Edif Group due to be completed later on this year, turnover will soar to €500m ($561m) and ebitda to €65m ($73m).
At Posidonia in Athens last week, the Italian classification society launched its brand new Gas Centre of Excellence that will gather together the experience from Rina’s gas experts across the group including D’Appolonia, CSM and RINA Services. The company’s virtual centre will cover test, inspection and certification (TIC) and consulting engineering services.
