New owner of Harland & Wolff says it is ‘once again open for business’

Harland & Wolff is “once again open for business”, according to its new owner London-listed InfraStrata, which has formally completed the acquisition of the assets of the Belfast shipyard.

InfraStrata had initially paid a £500,000 (€592,400) cash deposit to Harland and Wolff administrators BDO to secure exclusivity over the shipyard’s assets. Following a further £3.30 million payment to BDO, it now has 100 per cent ownership of Harland & Wolff’s assets.

The London company, which had raised £6 million via a share issue last month to complete its acquisition of the shipyard that built the Titanic, is scheduled to pay an additional £1.45 million to BDO by April 30th, 2020.

According to InfraStrata, “with the keys now in hand” it can move to finalise a number of contracts and progress discussions with its lenders.

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John Wood, interim chairman and chief executive, said: “I am confident that together we can now secure and deliver meaningful projects which reaffirm Harland & Wolff’s international reputation as a quality manufacturer of maritime and energy infrastructure.”

The joint administrators of Harland and Wolff, Michael Jennings and Brian Murphy, said on Thursday that they were pleased the sale of the business has completed.

“This has been an intense and challenging process. From the outset we have been cognisant of the need to ensure the continuity of the brand name, especially given its importance to Northern Ireland.”