On September 29th Meriaura´s parent company VG-Shipping Oy and Savosolar Oyj signed a conditional agreement where 100% of the shares in Meriaura Oy and VG EcoFuel Oy will be sold to Savosolar Oyj. The transaction is by nature a reversed takeover, as VG-Shipping will henceforth own about 72% of the shares in Savosolar. The closing of the deal is scheduled to November 30th.
Savosolar, founded in 2009 is specialized in manufacturing and installation of Solar thermal collectors and has been listed in the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm and Helsinki since 2015. Savosolar’s solar thermal collectors are the most efficient in the world for large scale systems and they provide the world´s most efficient energy supply at the lowest cost. The production plant and the headquarters are located in Finland, and there are subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. The main market area is continental Europe.
The question that may arise of course is what do shipping and solar energy have in common and what are the synergies? At the first glance they are very few, but one needs to keep in mind that Meriaura has never been and will probably never become a mainstream shipping company but is rather known for its “out of the box” thinking. Already for many decades the founder of the company, Jussi Mälkiä has had a clear vision to make a difference in terms of sustainability and environmental issues, especially in the shipping business, but not limited to that. It’s well known that the shipping industry is facing big challenges to reduce emissions but the challenges for the shore-based energy production are many times bigger. The crisis we are now experiencing further underlines the need to accelerate the transition to new forms of energy production and there will be a huge demand for fossil free production for a long time to come.
The company will hereafter stand on two legs, Marine logistics and Renewable energy, both striving towards the same target i.e., steady growth with notably lower environmental impact. For the shipping business this will require investments in modern and innovative tonnage and an open mind for new energy solutions. Meriaura already has many years of experience from the development and use of the company’s own biofuel which will have an important role also in the future. However, other solutions will also be needed on the way to emission-free shipping and therefore Meriaura recently signed a letter of intent together with Wärtsilä and Green North2 Energy, with the target of carrying out a project for building an ammonia powered vessel.
In the new company structure VG EcoFuel, the manufacturer and supplier of biofuels will become a subsidiary to Meriaura. VG EcoFuel is an experienced player in the field of renewable energy and combining the capacities and competences of VG EcoFuel and Savosolar will create a wider offering and a stronger position in the growing market for renewable energy. The strong financial position of the merged companies improves the possibilities to make investments to speed up the green transition and growth of both business units.
The two business units will be managed separately and there will thus be no changes to Meriaura’s daily operations, and the personnel and organisation shall remain unchanged. The arrangement will also not affect the relations to customers, suppliers, or other counterparts in any way. What will change though is that we are gearing up in terms of growth and green transition. There will be exciting times ahead for us and we hope you will join us on that journey.
Beppe Rosin
Managing Director
