Shipping tycoons agree merger of Cadeler and Eneti to form beefed-up offshore wind installation vessel giant
Combined company to retain Cadeler name as Eneti investors offered share exchange deal
Cadeler and Eneti will merge to form a major new force in the offshore wind installation vessel market, the two companies said today (Friday).
The deal brings together two of the world’s highest profile shipowners and deal-makers— Cadeler is chaired by Andreas Sohmen-Pao of BW Group and Eneti, led by Monaco-based magnate Emanuele Lauro.
The two parties said the new company – to be called Cadeler and based in Denmark – “will result in the largest diversified fleet owned and operated by a single pure-play offshore wind turbine and foundation installation company”.
Sohmen-Pao, chairman of Cadeler said: “This is a strategic transaction combining two leading offshore wind companies. It underpins Cadeler’s vision and capability to facilitate the renewable transition, and I support the transaction on its industrial and financial merits.”
It “will represent a significant step up in our ability to meet the increased demand globally for projects with larger scopes and project sizes in service of the much-needed green transition,” said Cadeler CEO Mikkel Gleerup.
A share exchange agreement between the two companies will see Eneti shareholders offered Cadeler stock at a ratio of 3.409 for each share they currently own. After the exchange Cadeler shareholders would own 60% of the merged company and Eneti’s the rest.
Between them Cadeler and Eneti serve many of the world’s biggest offshore wind developers at a time of increasing concern over a potential bottleneck in vessels as demand booms towards the end of the decade.
Andreas Sohmen-Pao
Oxford and Harvard Business School Graduate Sohmen-Pao hails from a celebrated shipping family as the grandson of Hong Kong maritime legend Yue-Kong Pao.
He is chairman of BW Group, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, with investments in BW Offshore, BW LPG, Hafnia, BW Epic Kosan, BW Energy and Cadeler.
A study of offshore wind installation demand by Olso-based consultancy Rystad Energy has suggested the number of vessels required outside of China is unlikely to catch up with demand before 2028.
Eneti growth
Eneti burst into the offshore wind turbine installation vessel market’s big league in 2021 with a $600m acquisition of UK-based Seajacks.
A joint statement on the mergers said expected gains in terms of efficiency, flexibility and capacity will allow the combined company to target the larger and more complex projects increasingly requested by customers.
The Cadeler fleet consists of two wind turbine installation vessels currently on the water, two WTIVs scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025, respectively, and two wind foundation installation vessels scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026.
Data supplied to Recharge by the research arm of shipping brokerage Clarksons earlier this week showed that the pair were already emerging as the leading WTIV owners in the international sector, excluding China.
The Eneti fleet consists of five WTIVs currently on the water and two more scheduled for delivery in the final quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025 respectively.
Emanuele Lauro
Lauro, who is a grandson of legendary shipowner Glauco Lolli-Ghetti, heads the Scorpio Group whose assets include the world’s largest product tanker owner, Scorpio Tankers. His brother Filippo and mother Annalisa Lolli-Ghetti are also active in the business.
Lauro has made regular use of the capital markets to build several companies, while Scorpio also has private interests spanning transshipment of dry cargo commodities, coastal transportation and port infrastructure developments in Asia and Africa.
Of the five vessels on the water, however, three were described as non-core assets and subject to divestment before or after completion of the merger.
Eneti CEO Emanuele Lauro said: "This combination is right for our shareholders, right for our customers, and right for our employees. We are truly thrilled to be joining forces with Cadeler. Our scale and our respective capabilities will create significant value at a time when offshore wind needs reliable partners and reliable solutions."
According to Recharge's sister title TradeWinds, Danish investor J Lauritzen, a shareholder in both companies, is backing the merger.
This is not the first major deal between the two shipping leaders. Sohmen-Pao-backed Hafnia Tankers closed a transaction to buy a fleet of 12 tankers worth over $400m from Lauro’s Scorpio Tankers in January this year.
Sohmen-Pao and Lauro are two of the most active deal-makers in the maritime world.
Singapore-based Sohmen-Pao has been on a consolidation crusade in the past few years, with notable takeovers in the crude tanker and products tanker markets and the LPG space.
Lauro shot to fame in 2013 when he took Scorpio Tankers public with a fleet of just three vessels. Within a couple of years the company had grown to more than 100 ships in one of the most aggressive expansion programmes seen in the industry.
He grew Scorpio Bulkers, a specialist in dry cargo vessels, at a similar pace, before transforming the company into the wind market as Eneti. Lauro has also invested in the offshore support vessel and containership markets previously.
(Copyright)