SeaFrance declared bankrupt as Eurotunnel eyes their vessels
January 9, 2012
The long-running saga to save SeaFrance took a new twist today when Eurotunnel boss Jacques Gounon said he was interested in acquiring the ailing firm’s vessels and assets to launch a new cross-Channel ferry service from Calais, if SeaFrance were to be liquidated.
Eurotunnel threw its cap into the ring shortly before a Paris commercial court hearing began this morning to examine the workers co-operative takeover bid for SeaFrance.
The court ordered SeaFrance to be liquidated, calling the co-op takeover bid unviable.
The bid was seriously short of capital, with the co-op needing around €50 million to fund the takeover, but had only pledges of support of around €15 million.
Gounon told a French newspaper Eurotunnel was a candidate to be a majority partner (between 51% and 100%) in a structure that would acquire SeaFrance’s vessels. These would then be made available to the co-operative of workers.
In a radio interview, French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said Eurotunnel’s interest was “good news”, adding that it showed that there was a future for a Calais-Dover ferry service.
Gounon said Eurotunnel’s interest stemmed from wanting to offset a “social crisis” in the Calais area, already one of France’s worst unemployment blackspots.
However, it has also been interpreted as a strategy to avoid SeaFrance’s assets falling into the hands of a competitor like Danish group DFDS and France’s LD Lines or P&O Ferries.
Courtesy of IFW
