Who Are the Investors Looking to Buy the Atlântico Sul Shipyard for R$ 1 Billion Through Auction and Create Thousands of Jobs?

Still Hidden, An International Group Presented The Billion-Dollar Proposal To Take Over The Shipyard In The Port Of Suape In Pernambuco

The auction of areas of the Atlântico Sul Shipyard, at the Port of Suape, in the municipality of Cabo de Santo Agostinho (PE), was scheduled to take place last Tuesday (21), but the sale operation has been postponed to July. It happened that Tecon Suape, which already operates a terminal in Suape, and the local Cone Suape requested changes to the rules and a postponement. Now, a secret international consortium of investors enters the game, having presented a purchase proposal for the total space for US$ 215,000,000.00 (two hundred and fifteen million dollars), promising thousands of jobs.

At the beginning of this month, executives from North Tabor Capital, based in Philadelphia (USA), claiming to represent a consortium of hidden companies in the sugar industry with investors from UBS Group AG, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Santander Bank, and Bank of America, were personally at the Cabo de Santo Agostinho Court to formalize the proposal to purchase the Atlântico Sul Shipyard at the Port of Suape.

What is known is that one of these investors is also a shipowner and operator of vessels around the world. Thus, if the auction is won by the previously secret group of investors, the expectation is that the Atlântico Sul Shipyard will cease only repairing ships and return to building vessels, with international business in the oil sector, causing the Port of Suape to become a powerhouse in job generation again.

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In the document sent to Judge Ildete Veríssimo de Lima, from the 1st Civil Court of the Ipojuca municipality, the founder, partner, and manager of North Tabor Capital, Cole Benoit Mattox, writes that the group intends to complete the acquisition through the auction of the space with an area of 150 hectares in due time. Furthermore, it is stated in the proposal that clients and partners will remain hidden until the purchase proposal is approved.

Suape Is Unaware of The Billion-Dollar Proposal From Secret Group

In an interview with a major political and economic blog in Pernambuco, the CEO of the Port of Suape, Roberto Gusmão, does not view the fact that the Atlântico Sul Shipyard remains in the shipbuilding business favorably.

“It’s like selling ice cream in the North Pole”, evaluated Gusmão. “Let’s wait. We need competition to be competitive in prices and navigation routes in Suape. Otherwise, we’re out of the game, of the new global logistics matrix that will be made post Ukraine war and COVID. And the container sector is fundamental to this. It exports and imports products with higher added value. For outside the country and within ports, even more so with the new cabotage law”, he stated.

Auction Drives Other Million-Dollar Proposals For The Atlântico Sul Shipyard

In the business backstage of Pernambuco, some were already betting that the internal auction of the Atlântico Sul Shipyard would be won by the global giant in maritime logistics Maersk, operator of container terminals. Through its subsidiary APM Terminals, from the Netherlands, the multinational offered R$ 895 million for the South Dock, in the internal area of the Port of Suape (minimum bid).

Maersk, until then, would be the only one who threatened Tecon’s monopoly, a Filipino company that already operates a public terminal at the organized port, tied to the Union’s rules, and that was also in the running for the area placed up for auction at the Atlântico Sul Shipyard.

However, if the Filipinos win this auction, they will have to give up the public terminal to have a private terminal. Thus, the Port of Suape would have to conduct a new bidding process.

Suape Could Become A Potential Job Generator Again

Currently, the Atlântico Sul Shipyard has about 500 employees. Between 2007 and 2014, it generated more than 11,000 jobs. At that time, Pernambuco was pointed out as a state in a near full employment situation.

In 2021, the company carried out services on 11 vessels, generating revenue of R$ 65.4 million, allowing for a net cash generation of R$ 26.6 million. Via Web Stories