Moby Aki and Moby Wonder will remain available on the 'blue whale' in lease back while Athara, Janas and Moby Ale 2 will presumably move to operate for GNV

The tender for the sale of the five ferries, Moby Aki, Moby Wonder, Athara, Janas, and Moby Ale 2, was awarded to the sole bidder (which, according to SHIPPING ITALY, is Gianluigi Aponte's MSC Group through Luxembourg-based SAS). The bid was awarded at a base price of €229.9 million, as reported by the same portal that promoted the sale of the assets.

The sale followed an agreement proposed by SAS (MSC Group), Moby, and GNV to avoid sanctions related to a potential market cartel on routes between mainland Italy and Sardinia. The proceeds from the sale will be used to repay the €243 million loan received by the MSC Group (through Luxembourg-based SAS). The agreement with the Antitrust Authority also stated that, "if the proceeds from the sale of these assets are not sufficient to repay the SAS loan, any residual credit will be transferred to independent third parties, under conditions that respect Moby's economic and financial sustainability."

For two of these ferries

For two of these ferries it is in fact a sale & lease back because the procedure specifies that "The sale of the Moby Aki and Moby Wonder vessels takes place in the state of fact and law in which they are found at the date of sale and delivery and with the obligation for the Successful Bidder to simultaneously stipulate, with Moby S.p.A., which will become the lessee, a bareboat lease contract for each vessel for the duration of (15) fifteen years at a daily rent of € (15,000.00) fifteen thousand on the basis of the terms and conditions set out in the Bimco Barecon 2017 form logically amended. T

Undertakes not to change the name of the Vessels

The Successful Bidder undertakes not to change the name of the Vessels. The sale and subsequent bareboat lease take place in the state of fact and law in which the Vessels are found at the time of the sale and bareboat lease, with the express obligation for the Successful Bidder to keep the Italian flag for the entire duration of the lease. "bareboat."

The ferries Athara, Janas, and Moby Ale 2 will almost certainly join the GNV fleet, while, as mentioned, Moby Aki and Wonder will remain (leaseback) with the shipping company led by Achille Onorato.

 Competition concerns

On the other hand the Italian Competition Authority, however, ruled that there were competition concerns in the consolidation of Italy’s RoRo passenger-freight ferry business. MSC owns ferry operator Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), and the competition authority cited the lack of competition and barriers for others to enter the market. The settlement agreement called for MSC to relinquish its shares of Moby and for the sale of five vessels to repay the debt.

An online auction

It is noteworthy that in an online auction completed on December 2, there was a sole bidder for the vessels Moby Aki and Moby Wonder, operated by Moby, and Moby Ale Due, Athara, and Janas, operated by Moby subsidiary Tirrenia. Shipping Italy is reported the bidder was MSC Group’s SAS subsidiary, which was also the holder of the debt.

The auction was completed at €229.9 million ($268 million). 

The auction was completed at €229.9 million ($268 million). The proceeds will repay most of the debt, with the agreement calling for the remainder to be sold to a third-party, which would manage the debt under conditions to maintain Moby’s economic and financial stability.

The auction terms also stipulated

The auction terms also stipulated that the two newer vessels, Moby Aki and Moby Wonder, must be chartered back to Moby for a period of 15 years. Shipping Italy speculates the other three vessels will be consolidated into GNV’s fleet. There are also concerns about the seafarers who would lose their jobs as Moby downsizes, but it is believed they will also transfer to MSC to maintain their employment.

Moby said after the terms of the agreement were announced that it would be restructuring its operations. It emerges with a greatly reduced debt, and said plans call for strengthening and reorienting the business model. Most of the consolidation was predicted for services to Sardinia.

The antitrust decision 

The antitrust decision represents a rare setback for MSC, which has been moving aggressively to expand its operations. In addition to the acquisition and construction of containerships, the company made investments in logistics and rail services, launched air cargo, and acquired Gram Car Carriers. The group is also expanding its ports and terminal operations, including a large investment in Hamburg, Germany, and was set to become a leading terminal operator in a deal with BlackRock to buy the international terminal operations from Hutchison. MSC is now the world’s largest container carrier, having topped 7 million TEU of capacity, which makes its TEU capacity 50 percent larger than Maersk.

Related : A €229 million auction has been announced for the sale of five Moby ferries.

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