Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, an Italian towage operator, is being acquired by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The purchase will be made by Genoa-based tugboat operator Rimorchiatori Riuniti, and a fund managed by DW’s Infrastructure investment business.
SAS Shipping Agencies Services Sarl, a wholly owned subsidiary of MSC has agreed to acquire 100% of the shares of the towage operator, Rimorchiatori Mediterranei. The towage operator is active in Italy, Singapore, Malta, Malaysia, Norway, Greece, and Columbia. MSC has also stressed that the completion of the transaction is contingent on obtaining the receipts of approval from relevant authorities. The price for the transaction has not been made public.
Diego Aponte, President of MSC stated that “We are very pleased to be able to become part of the exciting next phase for growth and improvement at Rimorchiatori Mediterranei and we look forward to continuing to expand the business, building on the impressive work of the families that developed the company these past 100 years.”
MSC dethroned Maersk as the largest ocean carrier in the world earlier this year and has been aggressively expanding. MSC has acquired over 240 new ships in the last two years and has built a 2 million TEU order book. To put the size of the order book in perspective, MSC’s order book is larger than the order books of Maersk, CMA CGM, and COSCO combined.
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