Singapore's BW Group is building its stake in Oslo-listed wind turbine vessel company Cadeler as Andreas Sohmen-Pao takes over as chairman.
Cadeler said its biggest shareholder, Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO), is in talks over a sale of some of its shares to BW following Cadeler's $100m initial public offering in November.
Swire Group has 42% and BW Group 20% of Cadeler. After the deal, BW will have "less than a third", while SPO will continue to hold more than 25%, keeping control out of BW's hands, Cadeler added.
But the move still signals BW's ambitions to develop its interests in the wind sector. The group also controls floating offshore wind farm company BW Ideol, which is set for an Oslo listing this year.
Sohmen-Pao, already chairman of BW Group, will become Cadeler chairman on 21 April, as current chair Richard Sell, commercial director at SPO, steps down after three years.
Busy chairman
"I look forward to the opportunity to work with the board of directors and the leadership team of Cadeler to support Cadeler’s continued development in the offshore wind industry," Sohmen-Pao said.
The BW Group supremo is also chairman at publicly listed affiliates BW Offshore, BW Energy, BW LPG, BW Epic Kosan and Hafnia.
Cadeler nomination committee chair Connie Hedegaard said: "Andreas has a strong track record within the shipping and maritime industry and brings the strategic skills, industry knowledge and personal qualities needed to help enhance Cadeler’s position as a premium service provider in the offshore wind industry."
Cadeler's revenue for 2020 was €20m ($23.6m), impacted by upgrades to the fleet that lowered operational capacity.
For 2021, Cadeler expects significantly increased revenue in the range of €56 to €63m.
CEO Mikkel Gleerup said: "We are operating in a rapidly growing market and by virtue of our successful IPO and subsequent substantial fleet upgrades, Cadeler is poised to deliver strong growth in 2021."
Profit on the way
The Ebitda loss for last year was €10m, but the company expects earnings to reach between €26m and €33m this year.
"We are set for a year with greater utilisation of our fully operational fleet. We have contracted higher yielding projects that will lead to much greater profitability and revenue," Gleerup said.
In March, Cadeler sealed its biggest-ever contract to transport, install and maintain the world's largest wind turbines offshore.
Energy company Siemens Gamesa is paying the shipowner $90m, with $30m of options, for work involving its new 14-MW SG 12-222 DD turbine models.
