Grimaldi forms company in Spain to buy Armas ships, terminals

Italian shipping company Grimaldi Group and its Spanish counterpart Armas Trasmediterránea Group have reached a definitive agreement for the sale of ships and port terminals.

The agreement signed on 19 July in Madrid provides for the acquisition by Trasmed GLE, the new Spanish company of the Grimaldi Group, of five ferries for the transport of passengers and freight and other assets.

The offices of the new shipping company will be located in Valencia.

In addition, the agreement covers the Valencia terminal, various warehouses and offices in Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Mahón and Ibiza, as well as the rights to operate on the shipping lines dedicated to the transport of passengers and freight between mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, notably on the routes from Barcelona to Mahón (Menorca), Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza, and from Valencia to Mahón, Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza.

The vessels acquired by Trasmed GLE to serve these lines are the Ciudad de Palma, Ciudad de Granada, Ciudad de Mahón, Volcán del Teide and Volcán de Tijarafe; they will be joined by the Grimaldi Group-owned Euroferry Egnazia.

The operation also provides for the hiring of Armas Trasmediterránea’s personnel, which implies the preservation of jobs, according to Grimaldi.

Italian investment bank Mediobanca assisted the Grimaldi Group by insuring a loan of approximately €160 million for the new Spanish company Trasmed GLE.

Having a fleet of over 130 ships, Grimaldi now extends its services to the Balearic Islands, also exploiting the synergies with its other shipping lines connecting Barcelona with Sardinia (Porto Torres), Civitavecchia, Savona and Livorno, and Valencia with Cagliari, Salerno, Savona and Livorno.