Good things come...
The two lines Mediterranean Shipping Company and Ignazio Messina & C. have said that a transaction they have agreed upon, due to be implemented soon, represents the best-possible solution for both partners. The largest obstacle to MSC taking over parts of Messina seems to have been overcome.
The Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company – which is already the second-largest container shipping line in the world today – is continuing to grow. Now it has concluded months of negotiations and acquired 49% of the shares in Italy’s Genoa-based Messina Group.
Above all Italy’s Banca Carige, which is also from Genoa, was very actively involved in the deal. Ignazio Messina & C. was encumbered by debts amounting to approximately EUR 450 million, 90% of which it owed to Banca Carige. Solving this issue – which arose from an order for newbuildings – would resolve what is probably the most difficult part of these long-drawn-out negotiations for this move.
The two companies Banca Carige and Messina negotiated long and hard in an attempt to find an acceptable deal and the outlined agreement would appear to be the best the parties could attain.
Word from Italy has it that the partners have now been able to achieve a final agreement concerning the outstanding debts, as well as their distribution. In detail this means that Carige, together with several bank groupings that also hold a small share of the overall debt, and Messina have now come to an agreement that envisages the restructuring of these debts. Some time is still required, however, in order to wrap up the final settlement in accordance with the legal stipulations.
Four out of eight ships in the new firm
This latest move, involving an unpleasantly large debt that was granted to the shipping line Messina, puts Banca Carige in the position of enabling the Mediterranean Shipping Company to become a shareholder in the shipping line Ignazio Messina.
The takeover envisages the creation of a new company; four of the eight ships involved in the contracted debt will be integrated into this firm. MSC will be the main owner thereof, with a 52% share. On top of this Gianluigi Aponte, the founder of MSC and its and group executive chairman, will hold a 49% minority stake in Ignazio Messina. The latter will continue to own the four remaining ships, the port terminals and the rest of the shipping activities.
Initial proof of intensified future cooperation between the two shipping lines MSC and Messina can be seen, for example, in the fact that the former has chartered two con-ro vessels from Messina. They have been plying their trade on the route linking Trieste (Italy) with Izmir (Turkey) since 3 April 2018.
Over and above this the partners are also making great efforts for MSC’s services to make greater use of the terminals currently operated by Messina. Market observers will keep a keen eye on the final conclusion of this latest transaction.
