World's largest shipping company takes over?: State apparently wants to get out of Meyer Werft

According to a media report, the Geneva shipping company MSC wants to take over most of the Meyer shipyard. To do this, the federal government and Lower Saxony would have to get out of Germany's last major cruise ship shipyard much earlier than planned. The owning family therefore wants to increase.

According to a media report, Meyer Werft, which is largely state-owned, may be facing a change of ownership. The federal government, the state of Lower Saxony and the Geneva shipping company MSC wanted to sign an agreement next Tuesday that would give MSC the right to buy around 80 percent of Meyer Werft, “Der Spiegel” reported. The last major German cruise ship shipyard would then go to the world's largest shipping company.

The state's exit would come sooner than expected. This was planned with the planned end of the renovation of the shipyard at the end of 2027/beginning of 2028.

In September 2024, the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony invested 400 million euros in equity in the ailing traditional company from Emsland, thereby taking over around 80 percent of the shipyard. In addition, the public sector secured bank loans worth billions with guarantees. The owner family Meyer holds around 20 percent of the Papenburg shipyard and has a kind of buyback option.

According to the report, the family does not want to give up the shipyard, but instead wants to become its owner together with MSC, and is likely to hold significantly more than 20 percent in the future. According to the report, a family spokesman said the discussions were "very constructive" with all parties. The state of Lower Saxony left it open whether it would sign on Tuesday. The Federal Ministry of Economics, MSC and Meyer Werft could not initially be reached for comments.