Smit Lamnalco is acquiring Pacific Basin's (PB) entire shareholding in PB Towage Australia (PBTA).
The deal includes all of PB’s harbor towage operations and 16 harbor tugs, one harbor tug and one barge.
The deal is expected to complete in January 2015 and will constitute the sale of Pacific Basin's entire harbor towage assets and activities.
"Our strategy is to enhance our focus on our cornerstone dry bulk business,” says Mats Berglund PB CEO. “We are happy that, through this agreement with Smit Lamnalco, we are making good progress on our strategy while ensuring the PBTA business and its excellent team can continue to operate as a going concern under the ownership of a highly reputable towage group."
"We are excited by the acquisition of PB Towage Australia, the second largest player in the country, which will enable the expansion of our footprint into Australia. Smit Lamnalco will be active in eight ports in Australia with a total of 29 vessels offering a combination of harbour towage, terminal and FPSO-related services,” says Smit Lamnalco CEO Daan Koornneef. “We look forward to welcoming to our group PBTA's team of experienced staff and crew, and to offering continued excellent service to PBTA's customers - current and new."