Full steam ahead for Elefsis Shipyards
The competent court has ratified the restructuring agreement and the business plan for the reorganization of Elefsis Shipyards with the investment by ONEX Elefsis Shipyards.
The decision regulates obligations of 250 million euros to the state, social security funds, employees, the Hellenic Navy and creditor banks, while the investor commits €250 million in the medium term for developing new infrastructure and modernizing the existing one, as well as the shipyard’s mechanical equipment.
ONEX’s business plan will be financed, among other things, with a $125 million bond loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). DFC’s board of directors announced in the summer that it had received the necessary approvals to provide the funding in question. In the next period, a relevant signing ceremony will take place at the US Embassy in Athens, according to ONEX sources.
According to the agreement, signed months ago by ONEX and the then development minister Adonis Georgiadis, representing the pension funds as well as the state and the navy, the assets and regulated liabilities will be transferred to a new corporate entity. A company with a commercial object will be created which will take over most of them, and one with a defense object.
The commercial section of the shipyards will deal with shipbuilding and the construction of commercial and passenger ships as well as floating platforms for offshore wind farms, while the defense section with the construction of weapons platforms (ship hulls) for NATO member countries.
The business plan envisages a turnover of €250 million over a three-year period with the “vehicle” being the annual service of approximately 200 commercial ships. It is also estimated that the number of employees will reach 3,000 within three years. It is reminded that the corresponding target for the shipyards on Syros, which are also under the control of ONEX, is 100 ships. In total, that is, the two units are intended to serve 300 ships per year Like the facility on Syros, the Elefsis Shipyards are expected to be certified by the US Navy, ONEX sources note.
