Deadline passes with line's
executives staying mum
THE FEBRUARY 5 deadline - when Safren was due to announce the chosen bidder for Safmarine - has come and gone to the sounds of silence.
Urgent enquiries of senior executives in the group, as high as chairman Buddy Hawton, have revealed little. Hawton did not reply, and the other executives - while being open for interviews - were in 'no names, no pack drill' mood.
It is understood that discussions are still going on, but the confidentiality agreement is as tight as a drum, and mouths are shut as far as the bidder name is concerned.
While the tone of certain conversations implied that a decision might be forthcoming this past week (between our closing for print and this February 12 date of issue), even this cannot be confirmed at this time, said one source.
Again, however, one executive did suggest that we should 'close in on us in a couple of days' time', which might suggest that group hopes are for an announcement in the immediate future. But 'might-be's' and 'maybe's' were all that came up in response to further questioning.
The closest to a hint of a name might have been in the fact that we were told to 'phone some of the supposed bidders for their comment.'
Calls to London, Paris and Copenhagen were suggested.
But even this does no more than re-hash the speculation that three of the bidders could be P&O Nedlloyd in London, who have made no public statement to date, Bollore Technologies in Paris, who announced in the French press that a bid was to be made but went totally quiet after this; and the A P Moeller group's Maersk Line, where a Danish newspaper said that an un-named company source suggested that a bid would be made, but with no official back-up or denial.
While we might be proven wrong (if an announcement is made before this edition is published) the favourite for the moment among close observers appears to be Maersk.
