GE Capital Invests In Rodriquez Cantieri Navali Spa

Rodriquez Cantieri Navali SpA and GE Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Group (GE), have entered into a partnership. Following several months of negotiations GE Capital underwrote an increase in the share capital of Rodriquez. GE Capital's shareholding in the Shipyard is in the range of 26 to 40 percent. The agreement was announced by Gianni Morace, managing director of Rodriquez, during the shareholder's meeting in Messina, Italy - whose objective is to form an IPO in the near future. In addition to GE Capital, the other principal shareholders in Rodriquez are M.R.S. Sviluppo Srl, Ustica Lines SpA and Comecam Srl - all of who participated in a management buyout of the yard in 1997.

Rodriquez Cantieri has also reached an agreement with Astilleros de Huelva for the licensed production of Rodriquez's TMV range of high-speed monohull ferries. With a capacity to build vessels up to 459 ft. (140 m), in one of three newbuilding berths, the yard is strategically located near the Straits of Gibraltar on Spain's southwest Atlantic coast.