Van Ommeren’s walk down the aisle

As with most logical business combinations, the signs were there a long time before the official announcement. Back in December 1996, Van Ommeren and Pakhoed joined forces to develop a 175,000 cbm tank storage terminal in the port of Zuhai, PRC. Under the name VOPAK, the cooperation was to be limited to the Zuhai project. But if teaming on one project is good, can teaming on all projects be better? For stockholders of both companies, the answer would appear to be yes, though not without some qualification.

On 2 March of this year, Van Ommeren and Pakhoed announced their intention to merge under the name VOPAK. A ruling by the European Commission’s Merger Task Force is expected in October. Approval of the merger is expected with only minor divestitures to ensure adequate level of competition in markets where the two companies are both heavily concentrated, such as in Rotterdam tank storage facilities. If approved by the Commission, VOPAK will become a world powerhouse in integrated transport, storage and distribution of chemicals, petroleum products and specialist shipping services.

This is only an excerpt of Van Ommeren’s walk down the aisle

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