LNG

Burckhardt Compression, the LNG equipment maker, has had a shareholder agreement with a management buy-out group from 18 years ago extended until 2026, underlining corporate stability amid steady expansion.

The MBO shareholder group who participated in the management buyout transaction in 2002 and who initiated and conducted Burckhardt Compression’s initial public offering of shares in 2006 has informed the company that it will extend its shareholder agreement, ahead of schedule, for another five years.

The previous MBO shareholder agreement was concluded in 2016 with its term running until May 2021.

“We greatly appreciate that Burckhardt Compression can continue to count on the commitment of this stable anchor shareholder group,” said Ton Büchner, Chairman of the Board.

The stake held by the MBO shareholder group amounts to 12.3 percent of outstanding shares.

Valentin Vogt, representative of the MBO shareholder group, said it was happy with the current direction of the firm.

“With the renewal of the shareholder group agreement for another five years we reaffirm our long-term dedication as shareholders of Burckhardt Compression,” said Vogt.

The history of Burckhardt Compression began in April 2002 when the Swiss Sulzer Corporation decided to divest the Sulzer Burckhardt division through a management buyout.

Five members of Sulzer Burckhardt’s management together with the financial investor Zurmont acquired the company.

The former Sulzer division has since operated under the name Burckhardt Compression.

In June 2006, Zurmont sold its entire stake in Burckhardt Compression through an IPO.

At the time of the IPO, the five members of management, who then owned 20.9 percent of the company’s shares, concluded a shareholder agreement, which has now been extended since those days.

Burckhardt offers a variety of compressor solutions for fuel gas compression that have been specifically designed for marine applications.

Its M-Type Electronically Controlled-Gas Injection (ME-GI) compressor systems are designed for boil-off gas management on LNG carriers equipped with MAN Energy Solutions ME-GI two-stroke engines.

Burckhardt also provides its Laby brand compressors for LNG carriers with X-DF propulsion systems and other marine compressors for vessels such as bunkering ships.

Burckhardt’s most recent order was disclosed in early December and consisted of eight low-pressure systems for boil-off gas (BOG) management.

The compressor solutions are destined for two 14,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and two 690 FEU (forty-foot equivalent units) container vessels ordered by C-LNG Solutions, a Singapore-based leader in LNG fuel gas solutions and LNG cargo handling.

Winterthur-based Burckhardt said all the ships would be equipped with WinGD X-DF propulsion systems and will be built at a Chinese shipyard with an option for 16 more vessels.

Burckhardt has been steadily moving into other markets through acquisitions over the past several years.

The Swiss manufacturer continued its global expansion by agreeing in 2020 to acquire the 40 percent of Chinese company Shenyang Yuanda Compressor it didn’t already own.

Burckhardt had its initial 60 percent of Shenyang Yuanda, based in northeast Liaoning Province, in March of 2016.

The Swiss company has previously taken over US and Japanese companies. US subsidiary Arkos Field Services was fully acquired in November 2019.

Burckhardt also in April 2020 completed a deal to acquire the global compressor business of Japan Steel Works Ltd.

The French containership line, CMA CGM, has taken delivery of its third Ultra Large LNG-powered containership, named the “CMA CGM Palais Royal”, from the Chinese Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding group's Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai.

Sept 23 (LNGJ) - Burckhardt Compression, the Swiss LNG equipment maker for the maritime market, said it successfully issued a bond valued at 100 million Swiss francs ($108.5M) on Switzerland’s capital market. “The bond is primarily intended to finance the recently announced acquisition of the remaining 40 percent stake in Shenyang Yuanda Compressor, based in Shenyang, China,” said the company. Burckhardt’s bond has a maturity of four years and a coupon of 1.50 percent. The issue was managed by Zürcher Kantonalbank and the bond will be listed on the Swiss Exchange.

Winterthur Gas & Diesel, the Swiss-based specialist marine propulsion company, has unveiled new technology designed to slash methane emissions and cut fuel consumption in its X-DF dual-fuel engines used by LNG carriers and other vessels.

GasLog Ltd., the LNG carrier fleet owner with 20 vessels and with another 15 ships held by its US affiliate GasLog Partners, has launched its latest carrier at the South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.

The carrier named “GasLog Georgetown” was expected to be delivered for service by late October 2020.

The vessel has capacity of 180,000 cubic metres and will also feature WinGD’s low-pressure gas X-DF propulsion.

The X-DF engines are able to operate both on natural gas or diesel fuel.

GasLog took delivery of two newbuilds in 2019 and signed long-term charters with two new customers, JERA Co. Inc. of Japan and the Spanish utility, Endesa SA.

GasLog, which was previously based in Monaco now has its headquarters in the Greek port of Piraeus, has a total fleet of 35 vessels, with 28 carriers on the water and seven on order.

The company relocated senior management and more of its employees to the Piraeus office to improve efficiency and to reduce overheads.

GasLog reported annual and fourth-quarter losses in February 2020 of $119.9 million versus a profit of $30.3M in the same quarter of 2018.

For the year, GasLog’s losses came to $114.6M compared with a profit of $126.4M in 2018.

Annual revenues rose to $668.8M from $618.3M in the previous year, while fourth-quarter revenues slipped to $182.2M from $188.6M in the prior-year quarter.