The Norwegian industrialist who controls offshore contractors and supply firms Kværner and Aker Solutions has decided to re-merge them just a few years after they were split up. The move is tied to efforts to make Kjell Inge Røkke’s shipyard and offshore empire more active in alternative energy projects apart from oil and gas.
Reuniting the two large companies, which together have around 8,000 employees in Norway alone, is officially aimed at making Røkke’s Aker companies better able “to deliver a more complete offer to the energy branch globally,” stated Kværner hairman Leif-Arne Langøy in a press release Friday.
The combined company will still deliver products and services to the oil, gas and energy businesses, with more expected emphasis on offshore wind energy and other renewable energy and carbon capture projects. The re-merger was welcomed by investors, with share values in both companies jumping late last week. Røkke’s firms also stand to gain from large state investment in carbon capture and storage projects and renewable energy.
newsinenglish.no staff
