Four candidates will be selected for the sale of the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire – The World

The groups nominated, including Fincantieri and Damen, have until December 26 to submit their proposals

World | 11.11.2016 at 11h08 • updated 11.11.2016 at 11h56 | By Denis Cosnard

The competition is now officially launched. The four candidates who are interested in the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) and the other sites of the Korean group STX Offshore and Shipbuilding now have until 26 December to submit their bids. This was announced by the commercial court of the central district of Seoul, Friday 11 November, following a meeting of the creditors of the shipbuilder in bankruptcy have validated accuracy of its restructuring plan.

The game remains very open, to the great relief of the French public authorities that closely follow the fate of the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire. At the beginning of November, four candidates were given marks of interest to the Korean court. Three are aimed only at the site of Saint-Nazaire, considered to be the nugget of the group. The fourth, the most mysterious, was, it seems, on all assets, including shipyards in Jinhae and Goseong, Korea. the ” The fear was that the tribunal favours an overall sale, and that the limited offers in Saint-Nazaire are out of the race, which would have been a problem “, explains Erminio Eschena, one of the leaders of MSC Cruises, the main client of the projects in French.

secret Identity

This assumption ruled out, the four candidates selected by the justice will now have access to all the data available on STX. They will be able to submit bids, either on the entire group, or on certain of its assets only, beginning with Saint-Nazaire.

the identity of The candidate interested in the set of STX remains for the time being secret, and some are even questioning its existence or its seriousness. The other three groups on the ranks are the Italian Fincantieri, the Dutch Damen, and the chinese Genting hong Kong, which belongs to the galaxy of Genting, a conglomerate in malaysia now in the games, the plantations and tourism, indicate several sources.

The company Mechanical Constructions of Normandy (CMN), owned by the controversial businessman franco-lebanese Iskandar Safa, has filed a letter of intent at the beginning of November, but too late in the eyes of the court, who did not approve this nomination, ” says a close to the folder. As for the group’s military French DCNS, who planned to participate in the competition, he was discouraged by the State, its majority shareholder.