LONDON, United Kingdom, July 24, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- London, England - July 24, 2006 - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. (Nasdaq:SNSA) (Oslo:SNI) reported today that Stolthaven Terminals BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of SNSA, and Oiltanking GmbH closed the previously announced agreement whereby Stolthaven Terminals BV has acquired a 50% interest in Oiltanking Antwerp N.V. for a total consideration of approximately $66 million, paid partly in cash and partly by assumption of outstanding debts.
"Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp is an outstanding addition to our expanding global terminal network," said Walter Wattenbergh, Managing Director of Stolthaven. "This superbly positioned and equipped facility will enable us to deliver greater value to our customers by adding to our storage capacity in the key Amsterdam Rotterdam Antwerp region, while reducing turnaround times and enhancing the utilization of our global parcel tanker fleet."
Stolthaven also announced this year a joint venture to construct a new state-of-the-art petrochemical terminal in Lingang, China, just west of Tianjin, the gateway to North China. "These agreements underscore our strategic commitment to expanding and enhancing Stolthaven's global terminal network," added Wattenbergh.
Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp operates as an independent liquid and gas-storage provider, with a current capacity of 500,000 cubic meters of tank storage. Plans to expand the facility include the building of 21 new chemical tanks and increasing the existing chemical capacity by 50,000 cubic meters. Two new loading racks for trucks and railcars and a new finger pier with four berths also are being constructed. The new finger pier will include two berths designed for parcel tankers and will allow the facility to bring in ships up to 125,000 deadweight tons.