NYK buys J. Lauritzen’s 50% stake in the NYKLauritzenCool AB reefer joint-venture

NYK has purchased J. Lauritzen’s 50% stake in the NYKLauritzenCool AB reefer joint-venture, effectively marking the end of the Danish Group’s long term involvement in reefer shipping. ”As a part of Lauritzen’s overall strategy we decided to sell our reefer fleet in 2006 and it is therefore only natural that NYK takes over our 50 % share holding of our joint marketing company,” Torben Janholt, President and CEO of J. Lauritzen A/S explained. NYK Reefers CEO Hiroshi Yamafuji recalled the “excellent partnership” with J. Lauritzen. Mats Jansson will continue as CEO under the company’s new name NYKCool AB. “We regret their decision to leave the company as well as the reefer business, but still we respect their standpoint and wish them great success in their new strategy,” Jansson said. J Lauritzen has increasingly been focusing on its highly profitable bulk carrier and product tanker businesses in recent years. NYKCool has headquarters in Stockholm and operates a fleet of about 70 owned and chartered reefers.