Sea Containers
leasing | |
Founded | 1965 |
---|---|
Defunct | 2009 |
Fate | liquidated |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Bob Mackenzie (CEO & President) James Sherwood (Founder) |
Website | www.seacontainers.com |
Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two primary business areas: transport and container leasing.
It was founded in 1965 by
During the 1990s, Sea Containers successfully bid for the
History
Founding and diversification
Sea Containers was established in 1965 by
During 1968, Sea Containers became a public company; it was floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 1974.[1]
After enjoying a stay at the
During February 1986, the British ferry company Hoverspeed was purchased for £5 million by British Ferries, a holding company for Sealink UK, which was in turn owned by Sea Containers.[6][7]
Foiled takeover and GNER
In May 1989, the British-based transport company
During the privatisation of British Rail of the mid 1990s; Sea Containers was one of various private sector companies that sought to obtain one of the newly-created franchises. Over time, it would place bids for multiple franchises, including the South Western franchise in 2001 and the South Eastern franchise in 2006.[8][9] However, its first bid was for the InterCity East Coast franchise, which was viewed as a particularly desirable one to obtain, the East Coast Main Line (ECML) having been recently electrified while also being worked by the newest intercity stock in British Rail's inventory, the InterCity 225, and thus had a well-established reputation for its high-speed services.[10] In March 1996, Sea Containers was announced as the winner, being awarded a seven-year franchise upon the ECML via to a newly-created subsidiary Great North Eastern Railway (GNER).[11]
During January 1997, Sherwood announced that GNER intended to procure a pair of two new-build
During his leadership of Sea Containers, Sherwood accumulated substantial personal wealth; his net worth was estimated at £60million in the 2004 Sunday Times Rich List.[3][14]
Financial hardship and collapse
In March 2006, Sea Containers announced that it was in the process of exiting from ferry operations, which had been one of the company's primary area of business; efforts were promptly launched to sell these operations onto third parties.[1] Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the company lost a lucrative contract to provide back-up services to its container leasing operations, which by then it had been running as a joint venture with GE Capital. These two negative headlines were seen as serious blows to the future of Sea Containers, which reportedly had accumulated debts adding up to $1.3 billion by May of that year.[1]
In response to these negative events, Sherwood promptly resigned from many of his companies, including Sea Containers.[1] He was replaced by turnaround specialist Bob Mackenzie, while Ian Durant became senior vice-president of finance.[14] MacKenzie sought to reduce the business' high debt burden via further sales, which he viewed as critical to any prospective rebuilding of the core enterprise; these efforts led to the rapid divestiture of 14,000 containers amongst other company assets.[1] By July 2006, rumours were circulating that Sea Containers was preparing to sell GNER in an effort to avoid declaring bankruptcy.[15][16]
Despite these activities, in early October 2006, Sea Containers announced that it was unlikely to be able to pay a $115 million (£62 million)
On 6 November 2006, the
On 11 February 2009, the remaining maritime container interests of Sea Containers were transferred to a new company, SeaCo Ltd, while the remainder of the group proceeded to be wound down and liquidated. The major shareholders in the new company were the bondholders of the former Sea Containers Ltd and two of the group's UK pension funds.[19]
Operations
- Sealink British Ferries: ferry services around the United Kingdom and Ireland. Acquired in 1984,[20] most Sealink operations were sold to Stena Linein 1990.
- Isle of Man Steam Packet Company: fast and conventional services in the Irish Sea. Acquired in 1996, sold in 2003.
- Silja Line: fast and conventional services in the Baltic Sea. In June 2006, Silja Line was purchased by Tallink, a ferry company from Estonia. The fast catamaran service SuperSeaCat was separated from Silja Line and operated until 2008 when it went bankrupt.
- Orient-Express Hotels: (25% shareholding) sold in 2005[1]
- SeaStreak: following the Sea Containers bankruptcy of 2006, this operation was sold to New England Fast Ferry[21]
- SNAV-Hoverspeed: a joint venture with Italian ferry operator SNAV. Used the former Seacat Danmark as Zara Jet.
- Aegean Speed Lines: a joint venture in Greece with the Eugenides Group. The service uses the former Hoverspeed Great Britain as Speedrunner 1, which operated in the English Channel and held the Hales Trophy and Blue Ribandfor the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic.
- Hoverspeed: English Channel services ceased in 2005[1]
- SeaCat: (Belfast & Troon).
Other maritime
- Hart Fenton: a naval architecture and marine engineering company, sold to Houlder in 2006[22]
- Sea Containers Chartering
Railways
- Venice-Simplon Orient Express: Luxury train service
- Great North Eastern Railway (GNER): a train operating company that commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise in April 1996. After winning a further 10-year extension when re-tendered in 2005,[23] GNER ran into financial difficulties with Sea Containers handing back the franchise in December 2007.[24][25]
Containers
The company's container leasing business was conducted mainly through GE SeaCo, a joint venture with GE Capital formed in 1998. GE SeaCo was sold to the HNA Group for approximately $1 billion on 15 December 2011 and now operates as Seaco.[26]
Other former activities
- Sea Containers Property Services Ltd – property development, property asset management.
- The Illustrated London News Group (ILNG) – publishing
- Fruit farming – Sea Containers owned plantations in West Africa and South America
- Fairways & Swinford – UK-based business travel agency
Former internet property of Sea Containers Ltd
In March 2016, the domain of seacontainers.com was acquired by World Sea Containers.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Morgan, Oliver (7 May 2006). "Sea Containers grabs at a lifeline". The Observer.
- ^ "Sea Containers Ltd. - Company History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Rich List 2004: James Sherwood". The Sunday Times. 2004. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "James Sherwood, founder of Sea Containers who put his heart into reviving the Orient Express – obituary". The Telegraph. 20 May 2020.
- ^ "Venice-Simplon Orient Express: The Return of the World's Most Glamorous Train". rail-books.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ISBN 9780415692212.
- ^ Wilkins, Robin (Winter 1988). "The Role of Hoverspeed in the Cross Channel Market". Transport Economist. 22: 7.
- ^ "Coveted franchise operated by Bermudan company". The Independent. 17 October 2000.
- ^ "Green Light for High Speed Services for Kent - Four Bidders Selected for new Kent Franchise". Strategic Rail Authority. 22 December 2003. Archived from the original on 4 January 2004.
- ^ a b c d e "From poisoned chalice to Holy Grail?". Rail. Bauer Media Group. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Sea Containers wins East Coast Main Line franchise". Rail. No. 276. Peterborough: Bauer Media Group. 10 April 1996. p. 10.
- ^ "Biggest Deal in European Rail History Marks East Coast Franchise Announcement" (Press release). Strategic Rail Authority. 22 March 2005. Archived from the original on 23 March 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ "GNER wins second franchise term" Archived 4 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Railway Gazette. 1 May 2005.
- ^ a b c d Fortson, Danny (22 October 2006). "Collapse was not my fault says Sea Containers boss". The Independent.
- ^ Dalton, Alastair (17 July 2006). "Sea Containers 'ready to sell GNER' to avoid bankruptcy". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 30 March 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2006.
- ^ Milmo, Dan (27 September 2006). "Ex-GNER chief says high bids threaten franchises". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Sea Containers files for Chapter 11 protection". The Guardian. 16 October 2006.
- ^ "Pension threat to Sea Containers". BBC News. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Sea Containers Implements Plan of Reorganisation". 12 February 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
- ^ "Britain Is Selling Ferry Line". The New York Times. 19 July 1984. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "New owner to keep SeaStreak ferries afloat". Associated Press. 18 March 2008.
- ^ "Hart, Fenton & Company Limited". Land, Sea & Air Magazine. 15 November 2011.
- ^ "GNER pays £1.3bn to retain East Coast mainline". The Guardian. 23 March 2005.
- ^ "GNER to surrender top train route". BBC News. 15 December 2006.
- ^ "East Coast franchise handover". Railway Gazette International. 31 December 2007.
- ^ "HNA completes acquisition of GE SeaCo". Seatrade Maritime News. 19 December 2011.