OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2010. Ferrexpo has purchased a 100% stake in the Austrian Helogistics Danube river carrier. Ferrexpo will pay back the EUR 28.5mn portion of the EUR 72.1mn bank debt of the company, and let the company’s subsidiary retain the previous EUR 6mn loan. As of 30 June 2010, the gross assets of Helogistics equaled EUR 58.8mn and the estimated value of its net assets was EUR 28.5mn. For the year ended 31 December 2009, Helogistics reported EBITDA of EUR 0.7mn.

Millennium Capital: the news is NEUTRAL for FXPO LN, as the benefit of more security in pellet deliveries to European markets is offset by the arising need to manage the non-core asset with low profitability. The move is not in line with the global tendency to outsource logistics for cost minimization purposes. To add uncertainty, the deal is still to receive Austria and Germany anti-monopoly permits.