Odfjell Sells Rotterdam Terminal
Odfjell Terminals, part of Norwegian shipping and storage company Odfjell, is selling its facility in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Dutch counterpart Koole Terminals for $155 million.
The deal follows an announcement in May from US private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg (LG) that it was planning to sell its 49% stake in Odfjell Terminals, along with Odfjell’s subsequent decision for an outright sale of subsidiaries Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam (OTR) and Odfjell Terminals Maritiem (OTM).
OTR comprises 270 tanks with a total capacity of 1.6 million cubic meters for storing chemicals and mineral oil products. It also has five berths for deep-sea tankers. The site’s Petrochemicals Industrial Distillation (PID) facility is said by Odfjell to control a large share of northwest Europe’s independent product distillation market.
A project is currently underway at OTR to extend and strengthen the jetty to accommodate vessels with a maximum deadweight tonnage of 160,000. The extension is expected to go into operations in the fourth quarter of 2018.
“This is a landmark transaction for us. We have been working hard to restore profitability at OTR during the past years, and the terminal is now ready for the next step of development, which will require significant investments,” said Odfjell’s CEO, Kristian Mørch. “We remain committed to our tank terminals business and will allocate capital for growth of Odfjell Terminals in the years to come,” Mørch said. After the sale, Odfjell will have a global network of seven tank terminals.
Koole will compensate Odfjell Terminals for all permitted equity injections made in 2018 until the transaction closes. Odfjell said that upon completion, the sale would reduce its net debt by around $35 million.
The transaction remains subject to the usual closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
LG’s sale of its shareholding in Odfjell Terminals remains ongoing. It has been Odfjell’s joint venture partner in the Norwegian company’s European and US terminals since 2011. The partnership was expanded in 2013 to include Odfjell Terminals’ global operations.
