The German shipyard to divest its pipe-handling equipment business

Star Capital Partners plans to sell the last remaining non-marine unit of Blohm + Voss in order to focus exclusively on its superyacht operations. According to the Wall Street Journal, the London-based private equity firm has put Blohm + Voss’s Oil Tools business up for sale.

The Oil Tools division, which makes pipe-handling equipment, was valued at more than €100m. Star Capital has commissioned Macquarie Capital to find a buyer.

Star Capital purchased Blohm + Voss in 2011 from ThyssenKrupp AG in a deal that was valued at about €150m, according to the paper. Thyssen kept the battleship and submarine operations, but sold the civilian businesses, with about 1,500 employees and €500m in annual sales.

In order to focus on megayacht operations, Star Capital decided to sell the two non-marine units it acquired in the deal. It recently sold its ship division, Blohm + Voss Industries, to Sweden’s SKF AB for €80m. The business unit had revenues of around €100m in 2012, with about €20m in earnings.

The shipyard will now focus on repairing and building superyachts, such as the 163.5m (536 ft) Eclipse. The world’s largest superyacht was delivered to Roman Abramovich in 2010 at a cost of around US$800m, according to knowledgeable sources. (https://plus.ibinews.com, 31 january 2013)
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