France’s GTT, the maker of liquefied natural gas (LNG) containment systems, said on Wednesday it bought a 75 percent stake in the Singapore-based firm Ascenz.
GTT acquired the stake in Ascenz from Chia Yoong Hui and Sia Teck Chong, its two executive founders, and from several investment funds.
Specialized in “smart shipping”, the company employs around forty people and designs operational monitoring and performance optimization systems for vessels.
Aimed at ship-owners, Ascenz’ solutions enable them to “achieve significant fuel savings and ensure vessel compliance with environmental standards,” GTT said in a statement.
The shipping industry is increasingly opening up to new uses and services driven by digitalization. In this context, the energy efficiency systems marketed by Ascenz “are meeting with growing success among ship-owners,” the French company said.
This transaction boost GTT’s service portfolio in the area of LNG shipping. Moreover, with the development of LNG as fuel, which addresses the whole merchant fleet, this acquisition will also enlarge GTT’s service range, which, according to GTT, will prove to be very useful on this market segment.
Philippe Berterottière , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GTT, said: “This is a particularly important new phase for us. The two companies’ complementarity will contribute to accelerate the Group’s development in services. With the rise of LNG as fuel, a market in which GTT intends to grow, the energy efficiency systems designed by Ascenz will enable us to provide ship-owners with even more compelling solutions.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of conditions precedent, and it should take place in the near future.
GTT said it will pay for the stake in cash without providing any additional details.
The two co-founders of Ascenz will retain 25% of the share capital and will continue to manage the company, notably in order to contribute to the implementation of the synergies between the two companies.