Harland & Wolff (H&W), the stricken Titanic shipbuilder, is on the point of a £70m government-backed rescue deal that may embrace ensures of job safety for the corporate’s workforce.
Sky Information has learnt that ministers hope to announce as quickly as Thursday that H&W and its 4 UK shipyards are being acquired by Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, after months of negotiations.
Navantia’s board is anticipated to fulfill to ratify the deal within the subsequent couple of days.
Whitehall sources cautioned that an settlement may nonetheless slip past Thursday however mentioned it will be formally unveiled earlier than Christmas.
Beneath the deal, Navantia will take over all of H&W’s websites, following its mother or father firm’s collapse into administration in the course of the autumn.
The Spanish group is anticipated to pay about £70m for H&W’s property, whereas additionally benefiting from improved phrases on a authorities contract to construct three Fleet Stable Help vessels for the Royal Navy.
In return, it’s understood to have agreed to offer ensures that it’s going to retain H&W’s present workforce for a selected interval, the size of which was unclear on Tuesday.
One authorities insider hailed the rescue deal as “a victory” for Sir Keir Starmer’s administration after months of uncertainty surrounding the destiny of a well-known industrial producer.
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H&W employs greater than 1,000 British individuals, however has been grappling with a dearth of orders for brand spanking new ships.
Navantia had been in search of a £300m enchancment to a Ministry of Defence contract on which it was already working alongside H&W.
The exact consequence of these talks was unclear.
Sky Information first reported {that a} deal was shut with Navantia ten days in the past.
The unique MoD contract struck by H&W, whose London-listed holding firm collapsed into administration in September, was mentioned by one authorities supply to have been “uneconomic”.
In latest weeks, the federal government has been working with Metropolis attorneys to scrutinise the revised Ministry of Defence contract and whether or not it will adjust to European state help guidelines.
H&W’s collapse into administration got here after a plea for taxpayer help was rejected by ministers.
Navantia has been offering financing liquidity to the corporate on a week-by-week foundation for the reason that firm’s submitting for administration.
The British and Spanish governments have additionally been engaged in discussions concerning the potential deal.
H&W’s 4 shipyards are in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife.
Bankers at Rothschild had been operating a sale course of to gauge curiosity within the firm and its property since September.
Based 163 years in the past, Harland & Wolff constructed essentially the most notorious passenger ship in maritime historical past, with The Titanic sinking on its maiden voyage throughout the Atlantic in 1912.
The Division for Enterprise and Commerce has been contacted for remark.
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, 2024-12-17 09:01:00
