Genting Hong Kong to acquire cruise ship builder

Genting Hong Kong has continued to expand its presence in the cruise sector, by agreeing to acquire German shipyard Lloyd Werft.

Under the terms of the deal, Genting Hong Kong will pay EUR17.5 million (US$19.8m) for 70% of a shipbuilding business and 50% ownership of the shipyard land.

The Lloyd Werft shipyard
The Lloyd Werft shipyard
The agreement follows the tourism and leisure conglomerate’s US$550m acquisition of Crystal Cruises, which was completed in May 2015. Lloyd Werft has already been commissioned by Genting Hong Kong to built Crystal’s new ‘Executive Class’ ships, as part of a major expansion of the cruise line’s operations.

“Lloyd Werft has already built and lengthened six ships owned by an affiliate of Genting Hong Kong and has the expertise to build a series of world-class cruise ships for the company,” said Lim Kok Thay, chairman & CEO of Genting Hong Kong.

“Ownership in Lloyd Werft will enable Genting Hong Kong to leverage on the shipyard’s technical expertise as well as their well-established and long track record in the shipbuilding industry.”

As well as the new Exclusive Class cruise ships, Crystal is also planning to order new luxury river cruise boats from Lloyd Werft ahead of the launch of Crystal River Cruises in March 2017. According to the Genting Hong Kong, these vessels will feature “larger suites than [any] currently available in the market”.

Lloyd Werft was founded in 1857 and operates a 260,000m², six-dock shipyard on Germany. As well as the new Crystal ships, the company has also built vessels for Norwegian Cruise Line and converted the famous QE2 liner for Cunard.

sourced:traveldailymedia.com