The company of Rome, which aims to market itself as a financial partner to shipowners and other operators, holds 49 percent of the company that owns the ship.
The ‘mysterious’ partner who joined the Grendi Group in the purchase of the ro-ro Wedellsborg – an operation that saw the Genoese company return to direct operation with its own ships after several years of absence (during which only chartered vessels were operated) – now has a name: it is Finaval, a shipping company of Rome historically active in the transportation of liquid bulk and now increasingly devoted to financial operations within the maritime industry.
The special purpose vehicle Nav.Co., which purchased Wedellsborg-as revealed a couple of weeks ago by Grendi CEO Antonio Musso, who, however, had not revealed the identity of the partner-is in fact 51 percent controlled by Grendi and 49 percent owned by Finaval.
The Italian-flagged ro-ro (built by Cantiere Navale Visentini in 2014, it has a gross tonnage of 21,800 tons and is 180 meters long), which Grendi Trasporti Marittimi operates through a bareboat charter contract, was purchased by Visemar for a sum of 34 million euros, 70 percent of which was financed by Crédit Agricole Italia, which acted as agent bank, and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
“This deal is an important step for our group,” commented Giuseppe Santarcangelo, deputy CEO of Finaval and chairman of Nav.Co. “For the past several years Finaval has been engaged in a process of change that will increasingly bring a focus on financial rather than purely shipowning operations. There are several initiatives concerning the maritime sector that we are evaluating and that may materialize in the coming months. Not only ships but also services. Examples are Mar.In. Service and GDAS. The expertise and know-how we have acquired over the last 30 years allow us to be an important and highly specialized financial partner for all those entities that intend to grow, develop and continue to believe in this sector.”
Nav.Co Srl was assisted by banchero costa in the role of M&A and financial advisor, in the persons of Francesco Fuselli and Enrico Zezzo, while lawyer Stefano Ruscelloni as legal advisor and the Industriale II team as Company Advisor assisted Finaval. The firm Bonelli Erede-in the person of Enrico Vergani-participated in the transaction as legal advisor to the financing banks.
Credits: Ship2Store
