Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) completed the sale of its Australian harbor towage business to Smit Lamnalco. The sale had already been announced in August 2013 as part of a strategic realignment of the towage activities.
Boskalis received US$55 million in cash for all the outstanding shares in Smit Marine Australia Pty Ltd, the legal entity holding the exclusive harbor towage license in the port of Gladstone, Australia with six tug boats included. The transaction was at book value and will not have a material impact on Boskalis earnings.
Shipping activity out of the Port of Gladstone is primarily commodity related with various LNG terminals currently under construction. The nature of these activities fits well within the Oil and Gas industry focus of Smit Lamnalco. These activities will furthermore complement Smit Lamnalco's forthcoming LNG terminal activities in Papua New Guinea.
Smit Lamnalco is a strategic partnership in which Boskalis is 50% shareholder with the remaining 50% share held by The Rezayat Group of Saudi Arabia.
