As one Balearic ferry company is sold to Italy another Italian company sails in

THE Grimaldi Group and Armas Trasmediterránea Group announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the sale of some assets and property rights.
The agreement provides for the purchase by the Italian Grimaldi Group of five vessels and two terminals in the ports of Valencia and Barcelona, as well as offices and warehouses located on the islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
The ships involved in the agreement are the Ciudad de Palma (year built 2007), Ciudad de Granada (2001), Ciudad de Mahón (2000), Volcán del Teide (2010) and Volcán de Tijarafe (2007), all currently deployed by Armas Trasmediterránea Group on various connections within Spain.
The agreement between the parties also provides for the purchase by the Grimaldi Group of the rights to operate between mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands for the transport of freight and passengers on the following round-trip maritime connections: Barcelona – Mahon (Menorca), Barcelona – Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona – Ibiza, Valencia – Mahon, Valencia – Palma de Mallorca and Valencia – Ibiza.
Following the signing of the MoU, due diligence will be carried out with the aim of concluding the final transfer agreement and starting new operations for the upcoming summer season.
“I am proud and very satisfied to have signed this agreement with Emanuele Grimaldi. For our Group this is not a withdrawal from the routes to the Balearic Islands since we will continue to carry out, in collaboration with such an important shipping group on the world stage, a large commercial activity that will allow us to offer our customers an extensive network of international maritime routes”, observed President of Armas Trasmediterránea Group Antonio Armas.
In response, Emanuele Grimaldi, on behalf of the Italian company said “I am very happy to have signed this important agreement with Antonio Armas, with whom we immediately established a relationship of great mutual esteem and laid the foundations for a fruitful collaboration.
“Upon completion of this operation, our group will extend its range of maritime services also to the Spanish domestic market, generating new synergies with the other connections we operate in the western Mediterranean”
The Balearics are attractive to Italian shipping lines as GNV, Grandi Navi Veloci has confirmed its plans to open a service between Palma and the mainland in competition with Grimaldi and Baleària who have dominated the market for 10 years.