Sergio Spagnuolo and Reese Ewing – Reuters, 06/15/2012
Brazil’s OSX, the shipbuilding unit of the energy and mining conglomerate controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, secured 2.7 billion reais ($1.3 billion) in financing for the construction of its Açú ship yard 250 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, the company said in a securities filing on Friday.
Brazil’s state development bank BNDES and federally owned lender Caixa Econômica Federal will provide the financing, according to the filing. Part of the financing will also come from Brazil’s Merchant Marine Fund, with the banks funneling those moneys into OSX, the filing added.
Recent offshore oil discoveries by EBX’s oil and gas subsidiary OGX Petrôleo and Brazil’s state-led oil company Petrobras are driving rapid expansion of the country’s shipbuilding industry, which has a backlog of orders for hundreds of drilling rigs, production platforms and support ships.
