LONDON (Reuters) – Spanish state-held shipbuilder Navantia will acquire the shipyards of Britain’s Harland & Wolff, the Belfast-based company best known for building the Titanic, the British government said on Thursday.
The government said in a statement the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, would secure all four of Harland & Wolff’s shipyards – in Belfast, Arnish and Methil in Scotland, and Appledore in southwest England – and protect around 1,000 jobs.
“This investment is great news for Belfast, for the Northern Ireland economy and, above all, for Harland and Wolff’s hugely skilled shipbuilding workforce,” said Northern Ireland minister Hilary Benn.
In a separate statement, Navantia confirmed the deal and said it expects to complete it by the end of January.
Neither Navantia nor the British government disclosed the price the Spanish company will pay for the shipyards.
In September, Harland & Wolff called in administrators after failing to secure funding to run the business, as energy price rises and wage increases ate into profits and pushed up debt.
Trading in its shares on the London Stock Exchange was stopped in October and in July the British government declined the company’s request for a credit facility of 200 million pounds ($253 million).
Harland & Wolff, founded in 1861, signed a manufacturing subcontract with Navantia last year relating to the 1.6 billion pound-project to build support ships for Britain’s Royal Navy.
The government said the deal would ensure three ships to transport munitions, spares and supplies to UK aircraft carriers would be built and delivered.
($1 = 0.7902 pounds)
(This story has been refiled to add the dropped letter ‘f’ in ‘Wolff,’ in the headline)
(Reporting by Muvija M; Writing by Catarina Demony; Editing by Kate Holton, Michael Holden and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
