Asia/Pacific News
Stake in LNG Tank Tech Company Up for Sale
French oil company Total and private equity firm Hellman & Friedman each plan to sell a 30 percent stake in Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), the world's largest maker of cryogenic hull linings for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, Reuters reports.
The stakeholders plan to take the company public in an offering that could value GTT at up to $2.4 billion.
GDF Suez, which owns 40 percent of the company, plans to keep its share.
GTT chief executive Philippe Berterottiere said the value of the company for buyers will come largely from its potential to help vessels make the switch to LNG bunkers.
"Whoever is going to buy a stake in GTT has to be convinced that LNG will take a significant share of the market for ship propulsion," Berterottiere said.
GTT's technology involves lining the inside of tanker hulls with 0.7 millimetre think nickel-iron sheeting and insulation layers, keeping the fuel at minus 163 degrees Celsius.
The company says it has provided the linings to about 240 LNG carriers, mostly built by Korean and Chinese shipbuilders who pay as much as $10 million per ship for the technology.
Berterottiere predicts that 20 to 30 percent of ships could be powered by LNG by the end of the decade, which could greatly increase demand for GTT's products.
There is much debate among market observers about how quickly, and to what extent, vessels will adopt LNG bunkers, with the logistical and safety issues around storage and transportation of the super-cold fuel contributing to the uncertainty.
