Rheinmetall and the Swiss shipping company MSC plan to acquire the Mangalia shipyard, located south of Constanța on the Black Sea coast, for about 138 million euros. The two companies will pay the price jointly, and the yard was previously known as Damen Shipyards Mangalia. Rheinmetall announced the plan on Monday, 19 October, and says the transaction should be completed within the coming weeks, once the competition and foreign investment authorities give their mandatory approvals.

Deal terms and the auction

The asset was awarded at an auction held on 9 October by the judicial liquidator CITR, where Rheinmetall Real Estate România SRL placed the winning bid of 138,034,320.47 euros excluding VAT. The starting price had been set at 184 million euros, and the sale price came down after earlier auctions drew no bidders. The chart below sets the opening bid against the winning bid.

Opening bid184

Winning bid, 9 October auction138.03

Opening bid

184 million euros

Winning bid, 9 October auction

138.03 million euros

Data from the article text

Dual-use plans and warship orders

Rheinmetall intends to turn the site into a dual-use production centre where civil and military shipbuilding would run in parallel for domestic and international markets. The yard would be divided into sectors and separate security zones so that both activities can operate on the same platform. The company's Naval Systems division, which has operated in Romania since 2024, says the yard will play a central role in building four warships ordered by the Romanian government. Those ships are two offshore patrol vessels of 96 metres and two diver support vessels of 43 metres. Earlier, the Romanian government signed a contract worth 920 million euros with Rheinmetall for the four ships built on the Mangalia platform. Tim Wagner, who heads the Naval Systems division, said the company plans to expand and modernise the yard comprehensively, improve production conditions and adapt capacity to future needs. Rheinmetall also describes the site as a hub for future military shipbuilding projects and a scalable base for work in Southeast Europe.

Damen's court challenge and what comes next

Damen Holding BV, the Dutch company that owns 49% of the shares in Damen Mangalia and roughly 70% of its receivables as the main creditor, is trying to overturn the decision that allowed the price to be reduced. Damen argues that changing the sale procedure did not respect insolvency law. Creditors had originally approved six monthly auctions, each with a starting price of 184 million euros. After three attempts without bidders, the court allowed the price reduction under the Code of Civil Procedure, and the sale went ahead at 138 million euros after four failed auctions. Damen also contends that the judge misread the rule on assets not sold within a reasonable time, because the upper limit of 12 months was removed from the law. The state-controlled Șantierul Naval 2 Mai, the majority shareholder in Damen Mangalia, accuses Damen of blocking the sale procedure. Damen's appeal is scheduled to be heard on 4 November at the Constanța Court of Appeal, and the liquidator CITR has not said whether admitting the appeal could annul the auction.