The Helsinki Shipyard was in dire straits due to its Russian ownership. While there were no sanctions leveled against the owners themselves, the shipyard’s plans to sell vessels to Russia dried up immediately as Russia attacked Ukraine.
In November 2023, it was announced that the Canadian marine
industrial group Davie has finalized the acquisition of the assets of
Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy (HSO). According to media reports, the
deal had been in the works for about a year.
The completion of the transaction is the culmination of a series
of milestones, beginning in December 2022. In March 2023, Davie
exercised an exclusive option to purchase the assets of HSO. This was
followed in April by the signing of a business purchase agreement, and
in July Davie secured a new 50-year land lease from the City of Helsinki.
Group Davie owns Davie Shipbuilding, Canada’s largest
shipbuilder. Helsinki Shipyard, on the other hand, is the world’s leading
icebreaker and ice-class shipbuilder. Together, the companies certainly
have the capability to design, build and maintain mission-critical ships –
icebreakers, obviously, but also warships and ferries for government and
commercial customers.
According to the deal, the Canadian and Finnish shipyards will be
separate legal and operating entities, while the business headquarters
will remain in Québec. Davie hopes that the transaction will create
opportunities for employees, encourage collaboration, facilitate the
transfer of know-how, provide access to resources, and stimulate export
potential.
Kim Salmi, Managing Director for Helsinki Shipyard, calls the
transaction “the best possible news” for the shipyard, its workforce
and supply chain. Salmi notes that now, after months of planning, the
shipyard’s top priority is to rapidly return to doing what it does best –
designing and building world-class ships quickly, efficiently and costeffectively.
The details of the business purchase agreement are confidential.
However, a significant proportion of the assembled funds will go to
ensuring that the shipyard has working capital while it gets up and
running and secures new business.
For the purposes of landing the deal, it was also important that
the Canadian government looks favorably on the potential synergies
resulting from the transaction – especially, since construction of
icebreakers is a big priority in Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.
Combining forces, it is likely that Davie and HSO can deliver the
critical expertise so in demand by state and commercial customers.
Renowned for their leadership and expert knowledge in clean energy
solutions, they also seek to contribute to the creation of more
sustainable ocean-going fleet.
PETRI CHARPENTIER
