Rolls-Royce will seek help from the Norwegian government to “find another option” after the sale of its Bergen marine engine business to Russia’s TMH Group was blocked by Norway on national security grounds.
The engine maker insisted on Tuesday that it followed the appropriate process in contacting the authorities ahead of the announcement of the sale on 4 February.
“We have co-operated with the government’s subsequent review by pausing the sales process and believed we had identified a new owner willing to invest in the business and its people for the long-term. We await formal legal notification by the Norwegian Government,” it said.
“Bergen Engines has a skilled workforce and significant future commercial opportunities, but the manufacture of medium-speed gas and diesel engines is not core to our long-term strategy and we do not intend to retain the business.”
Norway’s Justice Minister Monica Maeland told parliament on Tuesday: “We now have sufficient information to conclude that it is necessary to prevent the company from being sold to a group controlled from a country with which we do not have security cooperation.”
Rolls-Royce will be asking for help from the Norwegian government to “swiftly find another option, which can provide Bergen Engines and its people with the investment required for the future and Rolls-Royce with an appropriate outcome”.
The Norwegian government said in a statement: “The technology possessed by Bergen Engines, and the engines they produce, would have been of significant military strategic interest to Russia, and would have boosted Russian military capabilities.”
Rolls-Royce agreed last month to sell Bergen to TMH, which is is co-owned by Russian billionaire Iskandar Makhmudov, for about 150m.
At 1230 GMT, the shares were down 3.9% at 107.55p, already under pressure due to concerns about the impact of Covid restrictions and travel bans on the airline industry.
