Damen and Keppel agree on the acquisition of Keppel Verolme

Damen Shipyards Group has entered into an agreement with Keppel Offshore & Marine for the acquisition of the Keppel Verolme shipyard in the Rotterdam Botlek area, the company said in its press release.

With the acquisition of the Verolme shipyard, DAMEN takes the next step in strengthening its repair and conversion activities within the regional ship repair and conversion market. Since 1957 the Verolme yard has been active in the Botlek area of the Port of Rotterdam with three graving docks, a quay capacity of over 1,800 metres and approximately 250 employees. With the largest dock measuring 90 x 405 metres DAMEN will gain capacity to cater for the largest maritime objects. Currently, Damen’s biggest dock in the Netherlands is located at DAMEN Shiprepair Rotterdam and measures 46 x 307 metres. DAMEN intends to continue activities in the Botlek area with the current employees of the yard.

With the Verolme yard, DAMEN will have four large repair yards within close proximity of the Port of Rotterdam. The two yards in Rotterdam, along with Damen’s yards in Vlissingen and Amsterdam, will closely cooperate to maximise the use of each other’s expertise, further developing synergy advantages and jointly marketing their capacity, with the objective to offer more efficient and competitive services.

A notification of the proposed transaction has been filed with the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets on 10 April 2017. The targeted timeline to close the transaction is by the end of the second quarter 2017.

Damen Shipyards Group
Damen Shipyards Group operates 33 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 9,000 people worldwide. DAMEN has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept DAMEN is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, DAMEN vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts.

For nearly all vessel types DAMEN offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. DAMEN also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

In addition to ship design and shipbuilding, DAMEN Shiprepair & Conversion has a worldwide network of 17 repair and conversion yards with dry docks ranging up to 420 x 80 metres. Conversion projects range from adapting vessels to today’s requirements and regulations to the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,350 repair and maintenance jobs annually.