S. Korean shipbuilder buying Philly Shipyard from Europe’s Aker for $100 million

(Tribune News Service) — The South Korea-based Hanwha industrial group says it has agreed to pay $100 million to acquire Philly Shipyard from the Norway-based Aker Group and other shareholders.Hanwha and Aker had been reported in talks since at least last fall to sell the yard, a partly state-financed commercial facility on the site of a historic U.S. Navy shipbuilding center that closed in 1996. The Navy still employs more than 4,000 engineers and other professionals in other areas of the former Philadelphia Naval Base.Another Korean company, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Inc., in April signed a deal to cooperate with the Philly Shipyard in seeking U.S. Navy and other government contracts.

Two Hanwha companies are jointly acquiring the yard: Hanwha Systems focuses on military electronics and information technology, and Hanwha Ocean, which builds commercial vessels. The Hanwha group seeks “to expand their global defense and shipbuilding activities,” the said in a statement.

“We look forward to leveraging our shipbuilding and manufacturing knowhow in continuing the success of Philly Shipyard as it meets the expanding needs of the U.S. for decades to come,” Hyek-woong Kwon, chief executive of Hanwha Ocean, said in a statement.

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