Overview
Düsseldorf, September 24, 2024 – McDermott Will & Emery advised the Meyer family in relation to the agreements with the Federal Government and the State of Lower Saxony to stabilize the Meyer Werft.
In particular, the agreements enable the Federal Government and the State of Lower Saxony to acquire a joint majority stake in Meyer Werft GmbH. It is planned that the Federal Government and the State of Lower Saxony will acquire approx. 80 percent of the shares in Meyer Werft in Papenburg and Neptun Werft in Rostock. Each will contribute half of the total equity of €400 million. In addition, a credit line of €2.6 billion will be granted, 80 percent of which will be guaranteed by the Federal Government and the State of Lower Saxony. The banks will retain 20 percent of the risk.
The actual transfer of the shares to the federal and state governments is still subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.
Meyer Werft Group is one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world with its main plant in Papenburg and the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock Warnemünde. The sixth-generation family business employs around 5,000 people in Germany, which equals around 50 percent of all German shipyard employees.
In April 2024, Meyer Werft initiated a restructuring process. In a complex process, an agreement was reached with the federal and state governments to secure the stability of the company. This will make it possible to maintain shipbuilding at the site and to realize Meyer Werft’s very well-filled order book with high added value in Germany. At the same time, the option remains open to run the company as a family business again in the future.
The McDermott team was led by partner Matthias Kampshoff and included partners Benedikt Schulz, Renate Prinz and Sandra Urban-Crell as well as associates Niklas Keller and Jan Lorenzen.
