“I’ve only seen smiles all day,” the leader of Rolls-Royce Maritime in Ulsteinvik told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), after announcing that Norway’s Kongsberggruppen was taking over the company for GBP 500 million. The deal brings the propeller producer, with 370 employees, back under Norwegian ownership.
“We have been waiting a long time for a clarification” of the company’s future, said Dag Johan Skarbø, who’s worked with propeller production in Ulsteinvik for 38 years. British, Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian buyers were in interested in the company. The acquisition by Kongsberg, already active in the subsea and maritime sectors, will allow it to deliver complete solutions for the control and steering systems of ships.
The two companies earlier have been at odds with each other in court, with Kongsberggruppen being ordered to pay NOK 95 million to Rolls-Royce after losing a case involving unfair competition on the part of Kongsberg. Kongsberggruppen had appealed but then withdrew its appeal.
“There have been some conflicts, but overall, we have had great respect for each other,” Ronny Lie, communications director for Kongsberg, told DN. The Norwegian state owns 50 percent of Kongsberggruppen’s stock, has approved the deal and is taking part in a new stock issue to help finance it.
newsinenglish.no staff
