Sinking Meyer Werft receives €400M capital injection from German government

German shipbuilder Meyer Werft, which was hit by a major financial crisis, has received extensive support from the government to secure its economic future.

As informed, the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony have decided to jointly acquire around 80% of the shares in Meyer Werft in exchange for a contribution of €400 million.

They also plan to provide guarantees — as is customary in other industries and in cruise ship construction throughout Europe — of around €1 billion each to finance existing firm orders in order to stabilize the company.

The Papenburg-based company has now reached all the necessary agreements with the state, federal government and banks.

Cruise ship specialist Meyer Werft has been an integral part of the German shipbuilding industry for more than 225 years. It is part of the Meyer Group, which also includes the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock and Meyer Turku in Finland. The latter is excluded from the partial takeover and remains in family ownership.

Back in 2022, the Finnish government similarly supported Meyer Turku by injecting €80 million into the yard in order for it to overcome liquidity challenges caused by the geopolitical situation due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

To remind, Meyer Werft has found itself in the financial emergency due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and soaring commodity prices. In addition, 80% of the construction price is usually only paid when the ship is delivered – the shipyard therefore has to finance the construction with loans. The promised guarantees are being used for this purpose.

Despite the current financial challenges, the company has orders worth 11 billion euros until 2031 and remains in demand internationally.

As explained, the capital injection will make it possible to secure jobs at Meyer Werft and in its extensive supplier network. In addition to the more than 3,000 people directly employed by the shipyard, thousands of other jobs in the region are directly linked to the future of the shipyard through suppliers and service providers.

Return to private hands sought

Despite the planned takeover of shares by the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony, it is clear that this is not intended to be permanent. Rather, all parties involved are pursuing the goal of transferring Meyer Werft back into private hands in the long term.

The owner family Meyer has been granted a corresponding buy-back right.

“Our goal is to lead MEYER WERFT and its employees into a successful and secure fu-ture. We firmly believe that our company, with its innovative technology and dedicated team, has a future,” emphasized Bernd Eikens, CEO of Meyer Werft.

“Meyer Werft is a key company for the north-west of Lower Saxony and far beyond – this justifies the state’s enormous commitment. With this joint effort, we are enabling a sustainable reorientation of the shipyard, which stands for thousands of jobs in the region and innovative ship-building,” Geralt Heere (Greens), Lower Saxony’s Finance Minister, commented.

‘The path to reorganisation is a major milestone. At the end of the day, there is an unwavering determination to work together to secure the future of Meyer Werft – to preserve both the site and the jobs in Papenburg as well as the im-portant shipbuilding expertise in Germany. We stand together for this goal in Lower Saxony and in the federal government on a non-partisan basis. I am convinced that the shipyard will now quickly get back on its feet and once again embark on a successful, innovative future,” Sebastian Lechner, head of the CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament, said.