Japan's Tsuneishi makes Mitsui bid

Japan’s Tsuneishi Shipbuilding has announced that it will acquire 49% of Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, following the latter’s agreement in late March to sell its naval business to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

Tsuneishi said on 24 April that it expects to complete the acquisition of the Mitsui E&S stake, which features its commercial shipbuilding interests and affiliated companies, by October.

The sale – the value of which was not disclosed – is aligned with Mitsui E&S’ strategy to reduce focus on shipbuilding and instead put emphasis on ship design and engineering services.

Tsuneishi said it entered a business alliance with Mitsui E&S in 2018 and that since then the two companies have strengthened their partnership in shipbuilding, design, and research and development (R&D).

On 29 March MHI announced that it had reached an agreement with Mitsui E&S Holdings – the parent of Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding – to acquire the company’s naval and government ships business. The two companies had been discussing the potential deal since June 2020 and hope to finalise the acquisition by October. The value of the deal has not been announced.

MHI said the revenues of Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding’s naval business in 2020 was JPY37.5 billion (USD346 million) and that its assets were worth JPY20.7 billion.