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Viking and Tallink make offers to buy Silja Line
Finnish passenger and cargo shipping operator Viking Line and Estonia's Tallink have offered to buy loss-making rival Silja Line.
Neither Viking Line nor Tallink disclosed the size of the bid or any other details. The Silja fleet is estimated to be worth some Eur 500m ($613.7m).
Silja is Finland's leading Baltic sea operator of cruise ferries, combined vehicle and passenger ships, fast ferries and cruise ships. It is owned by Sea Containers, the Bermuda-based passenger and freight transport operator listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Viking Line 's offer would give it total dominance in passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. Silja and Viking Line are the leading passenger ferry operators between south-west Finland and the Stockholm region in Sweden.
Tallink operates between Finland and Estonia as well as between Estonia and Sweden and is interested in Silja's high volume traffic between Sweden and Finland.
"We are interested in the company but we have decided it is up to the sellers, not us, to comment on this any further," said Keijo Mehtonen, head of Tallink's Finnish unit.
Another possible bidder is Sweden's Stena Line, which last year had spoken about its interest in the Finnish ferry group. Stena Line operates between Sweden and Denmark, Germany and Poland.
Dan Clague, a managing director at Société Générale, which is handling the sale, said he could not disclose how many offers had been received or from whom.
"Over the next few days we will be going through these proposals, then shortlist the proposals and complete a due diligence,'' Mr Clague said. "We are working toward getting binding offers in mid-March''.
Antti Pankakoski, the chief executive of Silja, said last year the company expected up to ten bids for Silja.
Sea Containers put its Finnish Silja unit up for sale in November as it decided to refocus from car-carrying fast ferries to railway and marine container ships. It is selling Silja Line's business in one part including eight ships. Three remaining ships are to be sold separately.
Silja made an operating loss of $313,000 during the first nine months of 2005. For the first nine months of 2004 it made an operating income of $28.2m. The results of the heavily indebted company have been affected by the disappearance of tax-free trade on the Tallinn-Helsinki route, a drop in ticket prices due to competition and rising fuel prices.
In the autumn Sea Containers announced that the Silja fleet was being reduced from twelve vessels to eight vessels operating on three routes and that a strict cost cutting programme had started.
Sea Containers reported a net loss of $58.5m, or $2.16 per common share diluted, for the first three quarters of 2005 as ferry traffic across the English Channel also declined. A year earlier it made net earnings of $8.9m or $0.35 per share.
Neither Viking Line nor Tallink disclosed the size of the bid or any other details. The Silja fleet is estimated to be worth some Eur 500m ($613.7m).
Silja is Finland's leading Baltic sea operator of cruise ferries, combined vehicle and passenger ships, fast ferries and cruise ships. It is owned by Sea Containers, the Bermuda-based passenger and freight transport operator listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Viking Line 's offer would give it total dominance in passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. Silja and Viking Line are the leading passenger ferry operators between south-west Finland and the Stockholm region in Sweden.
Tallink operates between Finland and Estonia as well as between Estonia and Sweden and is interested in Silja's high volume traffic between Sweden and Finland.
"We are interested in the company but we have decided it is up to the sellers, not us, to comment on this any further," said Keijo Mehtonen, head of Tallink's Finnish unit.
Another possible bidder is Sweden's Stena Line, which last year had spoken about its interest in the Finnish ferry group. Stena Line operates between Sweden and Denmark, Germany and Poland.
Dan Clague, a managing director at Société Générale, which is handling the sale, said he could not disclose how many offers had been received or from whom.
"Over the next few days we will be going through these proposals, then shortlist the proposals and complete a due diligence,'' Mr Clague said. "We are working toward getting binding offers in mid-March''.
Antti Pankakoski, the chief executive of Silja, said last year the company expected up to ten bids for Silja.
Sea Containers put its Finnish Silja unit up for sale in November as it decided to refocus from car-carrying fast ferries to railway and marine container ships. It is selling Silja Line's business in one part including eight ships. Three remaining ships are to be sold separately.
Silja made an operating loss of $313,000 during the first nine months of 2005. For the first nine months of 2004 it made an operating income of $28.2m. The results of the heavily indebted company have been affected by the disappearance of tax-free trade on the Tallinn-Helsinki route, a drop in ticket prices due to competition and rising fuel prices.
In the autumn Sea Containers announced that the Silja fleet was being reduced from twelve vessels to eight vessels operating on three routes and that a strict cost cutting programme had started.
Sea Containers reported a net loss of $58.5m, or $2.16 per common share diluted, for the first three quarters of 2005 as ferry traffic across the English Channel also declined. A year earlier it made net earnings of $8.9m or $0.35 per share.
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