Singapore: ASL Marine has bought out two European companies. The Singapore conglomerate has paid EUR5.1m for the Dutch firm, Vosta LMG, a top dredger designer and builder that also has patents on a number of important parts used in dredgers. ASL paid just EUR1 to to take over CFT, a German incorporated private company which provides administrative services and employ corresponding personnel to group companies that are based in Germany.
“It is the company’s strategy,” ASL said in a release, “to maintain and enhance Vosta LMG’s design and spare parts business. It is the company’s aim to try to integrate the project management business with its own even larger project management business to achieve for Vosta LMG more scale economies, price competitiveness, speed and reach. The integration will not result in all Vosta LMG projects being undertaken at the company’s yards. The choice of the yard is and will remain on price, quality and client preference.
“From the company’s point of view, the acquisition is an important step in capturing a high barrier part of the industry’s value chain. The Netherlands is an acknowledged leader in the field of dredging technology. By acquiring part of that technology, the company believes that it can now add real value to clients in the dredging and marine earth moving industry and to economies where dredging and land reclamation is of vital importance.”
Separately ASL posted its latest quarterly results. While shipbuilding was down, ASL Marine’s other divisions such as repair, conversion and chartering all posted healthy results in the latest quarter ensuring the group beat the same quarter a year ago.
ASL Marine reported revenue of S$89m and net profit of S$9.8m for the three months ended 30 September 2012.
“Group wide, we will continue to lean towards the offshore oil and gas industry as healthy oil prices sustaining above the US$80 per barrel mark supports exploration and production activities,” said Ang Kok Tian, ASL’s chairman and managing director. “Though the marine and commercial shipping side is still suffering, we are witnessing pockets of growth within the oil and gas side, particularly demand for smaller PSVs and larger AHTS vessels.” [13/11/12]
