Gdynia bids for Gdansk
Gdansk, which declared bankruptcy last year, had three suitors until the end of June: Gdynia with Evip, a consortium of Szczecin Shipyard and Gdansk Repair Shipyard (GSR) and the Ship Building Consortium (KBO), which was backed by Zygmunt Solorz, the owner of television station Polsat.
KBO watched its chances evaporate when Solorz decided to walk away from the sale, leaving the consortium with insufficient funds to bid. That left Szczecin and Gdynia staring each other down.
But Szczecin decided to pull out last week, days before the bankruptcy court was to decide on the tender winner.
The court-appointed receiver Andrzej Wiercinski said he told the bankruptcy judge that Gdynia should get the shipyard.
"I made a recommendation for the bankruptcy court judge," he said. "The final decision should be made by this Wednesday."
Szczecin gave no clear reason for why it decided to pull out of the tender.
"We couldn't accept the terms proposed by the receiver," said Wojciech Sobecki, the press spokesman for Szczecin Shipyard.
He refused to say what specifically turned Szczecin off. But the sudden decision left Szczecin's partner, GSR, hanging.
"If we had known it a few days before, we could have found another partner," said Janusz Wozniak, the press spokesman for GSR.
In the end, the offer GSR finally came up with couldn't match Gdynia's. While neither the companies nor court officials have disclosed the bidding prices, GSR's offer was less than half of Gdynia's bid, said Jacek Kwasniewski, managing director at Business Management & Finance, the adviser in the shipyard's sale.
Advisers have said, however, that the selling price definitely will not cover the zl. 655 million ($189.85 million) in accumulated debts Gdansk Shipyard had at the end of April.
KBO watched its chances evaporate when Solorz decided to walk away from the sale, leaving the consortium with insufficient funds to bid. That left Szczecin and Gdynia staring each other down.
But Szczecin decided to pull out last week, days before the bankruptcy court was to decide on the tender winner.
The court-appointed receiver Andrzej Wiercinski said he told the bankruptcy judge that Gdynia should get the shipyard.
"I made a recommendation for the bankruptcy court judge," he said. "The final decision should be made by this Wednesday."
Szczecin gave no clear reason for why it decided to pull out of the tender.
"We couldn't accept the terms proposed by the receiver," said Wojciech Sobecki, the press spokesman for Szczecin Shipyard.
He refused to say what specifically turned Szczecin off. But the sudden decision left Szczecin's partner, GSR, hanging.
"If we had known it a few days before, we could have found another partner," said Janusz Wozniak, the press spokesman for GSR.
In the end, the offer GSR finally came up with couldn't match Gdynia's. While neither the companies nor court officials have disclosed the bidding prices, GSR's offer was less than half of Gdynia's bid, said Jacek Kwasniewski, managing director at Business Management & Finance, the adviser in the shipyard's sale.
Advisers have said, however, that the selling price definitely will not cover the zl. 655 million ($189.85 million) in accumulated debts Gdansk Shipyard had at the end of April.
