The German Fair Trade Commission has approved the acquisition of Blohm+Voss GmbH by Luerssen Maritime Beteiligungen, a month after the deal was announced by the two companies.
With the acquisition of the Hamburg shipyard, the Bremen-based Luerssen intends to strengthen its naval and commercial ships repair and refit capabilities and enhance its naval new build activities.
Blohm+Voss said the first steps towards intensifying the cooperation would be initiated in the coming weeks.
“With the decision from the German Fair Trade Commission, we are a major step closer to achieving our goal and we are now able to face future challenges of the difficult market environment together with Blohm+Voss, ” said Peter Luerssen , managing partner of Luerssen Maritime Beteiligungen GmbH & Co. KG.
“Over the coming weeks we will concentrate on exchanging information with our new employees on site in Hamburg in order to get a concrete picture on the ground, and on this basis, step by step, we will develop and implement the initial processes to connect the Hamburg shipyard to our group,” explained Dr. Klaus Borgschulte , technical director at Luerssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG.
Lürssen and Blohm+Voss have a history of cooperation on naval projects and have worked together on the lead ship of the German Navy’s newest and largest class of frigates, the F 125.
With the government’s approval in place, Luerssen is now in a position to combine six specialized shipyards with approximately 2800 employees in Northern Germany.