Viking joins Tallink in Silja bidding

Viking Line, the Finnish ferry operator, has put in a `tentative' bid for Silja, the rival company put up for sale by Sea Containers.

The move comes ahead of today's deadline for offers but more than a month since Tallink said it was interested in Silja's Finland-Sweden services.

Silja operates two cruise ferries between Helsinki and Stockholm plus two other vessels between Turku and Stockholm under the Silja Line brand name. It also has two ro-pax ferries on Turku-Stockholm under Seawind Line.

Lisa Barnard, press officer for Sea Containers, declined to make any further comment, while Tallink's executives were all unavailable for comment. The private equity fund Permira and Australian bank Macquarie have also appeared in rumours as potential bidders for Silja.

On 15 December Tallink Finland managing director Keijo Mehtonen told the Turun Sanomat daily: "As soon as we know what is on offer and what [Silja's] liabilities are, we can estimate the situation more accurately."

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