By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 24 -- Friede Goldman Halter Inc., Gulfport, Miss., agreed to sell Halter Marine Inc., a leading builder of small to medium-sized offshore drilling rigs and other vessels, to Bollinger Shipyards Inc. for $48 million cash and other considerations.
Bollinger will acquire all of Halter Marine's operating assets and properties, including the Halter Pascagoula, Halter Moss Point, Moss Point Marine, Halter Port Bienville, Halter Lockport, Halter Gulfport East Central, and Three Rivers facilities. The sale is subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Mississippi but is expected to close in late July or early August, said officials.
"The sale of Halter Marine to Bollinger Shipyards is a major step in providing a return to the creditors," said Jack Stone, president and CEO of Friede Goldman Halter, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April 2001.
The pending acquisition "will expand our capacity and capabilities in new construction, establish our presence and visibility in new foreign and domestic markets, and will complement our extensive inventory of designs," said Donald "Boysie" Bollinger, chairman and CEO of Bollinger.
"Best of all, we will retain substantially all of Halter's dedicated employees, thereby gaining hundreds of highly talented and skilled designers and shipbuilders whose excellent reputation is known around the world," he said.
"Our goal," said Bollinger, "is to make the transition for our new employees and customers as seamless as possible. The transition went very smoothly when we acquired Halter's repair division in August 2000, and we will do it again."
Halter Marine is one of two core operating units out of the three business units presently operated by Friede Goldman Halter. The other core unit is Friede Goldman Offshore, which is involved in construction, upgrade, and repair of drilling units, mobile production units, and offshore construction equipment.
Friede & Goldman Ltd., a third unit involved in naval architecture and marine engineering, is expected to be sold in May through a bankruptcy court-approved auction process.
