MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. is in talks to acquire the roughly 80% stake in Meyer Werft held jointly by Germany’s federal government and the state of Lower Saxony, according to a Bloomberg report.
The discussions remain open-ended, the report added, as no final decision has been made and the deal may not go ahead.
A sale would include Meyer Werft’s shipyards in Papenburg and Rostock and return control of the company to private ownership. Germany’s federal government and the state of Lower Saxony took a controlling stake in 2024 as part of a rescue package that included EUR 400 million (US$479 million) in equity and EUR 2.6 billion in credit guarantees. Government officials reportedly do not want to sell at a loss on their equity investment.
For MSC, an acquisition could give the group greater access to cruise-ship construction capacity. It has previously commissioned ships from other builders, including Fincantieri and Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
MSC and Meyer Werft also announced plans for new ships in 2025, though that agreement had not been finalised as of June 2026.