Oslo-listed Havyard Group ASA has decided to change the company name to Eqva ASA to reflect its growth strategy and mark its transformation into a fully integrated service company.
The company said that the name Eqva was formed by combining the letters “EQ”, the starting point of the words equal, equity and equality, and “va” the starting point of the word’s “variety” and “value” – words that reflects the company’s strategic priorities. The “VA” also brings association to the Norwegian word for “Water” (Vann), signalling a company proud of its origin as a maritime company.
“ The world is changing rapidly, and we see strong macro trends that will boost the demand for new digital and sustainable solutions. We aim to be a frontrunner of these solutions and are well equipped to take advantage of the macro trends with our variety of services. Also, the changing framework conditions create opportunities for consolidation and re-engineering of industrial service companies themselves. The company is well placed to take the lead, be a responsible owner with an eternal investment perspective with the aim to maximise financial return over time, ” says chair of the board, Even Matre Ellingsen .
“Over the last few years, our company has made significant steps forward. We have expanded our service portfolio and positioned ourselves in industries where we can make a difference by driving change towards a more sustainable future and creating strong shareholder value. We continue our exciting transformation towards being an active owner of fully integrated service companies in maritime, power intensive and renewable industries. This evolution, combined with our future ambitions, inspired the need to revisit our name and identity,” says CEO Erik Høyvik .
The new name will be proposed to shareholders in a resolution to an Extraordinary General Meeting on 14 November 2022. Board members with ownership representing abt. 80 percent of the shares, support the proposal and will vote in favour of the resolution, the company said.
The group completed the combination of Havyard Group ASA and HG Group AS in June 2022. The acquisition of HG Group AS was described as an important milestone in the process to develop Havyard as a fully integrated supplier of in-demand services and solutions to maritime, power-intensive and renewable industries.
The group is continuing to shift its shipyard activities from newbuilding to conversions, repairs, and maintenance. With the change in strategy the company said that its revenue base has become less volatile and more resilient to market cycles.
In that context, earlier this year Havyard’s HAV Group ASA won approval for a hydrogen-based energy system for ships developed within the FreeCO2ast project, making a step forward in the commercial use of hydrogen fuel by a commercial vessel.