Aztech Group buys Glenn Singapore shipyard

Leonard Glenn Francis

AUGUST 25, 2014 — Singapore main board listed Aztech Group has acquired 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Glenn Marine Logistics Base Pte Ltd., the main asset of which is a leasehold shipyard in Jurong Town, Singapore, that consists of a factory with an open yard and jetty.

Prior to the acquisition, Glenn Marine Logistics Base was part of the Glenn Marine Group controlled by Leonard Glenn Francis.

Francis is the primary figure in what U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division has called “a massive fraud and bribery scheme that cost the U.S. Navy more than $20 million.” He is one of seven defendants charged in the case, four of whom have entered guilty pleas.

Aztech Group paid $11 million for the shipyard and has renamed it AZ Marine Offshore Services. It will use it to strengthen the vessel repair and maintenance  capability of its AZ Marine unit, which owns a fleet of 11 tugs, nine barges, two self-propelled conveyor barges, two mooring boats and a passenger launch boat.

It says the shipyard has an in-house machining workshop that will enable it to shorten machining lead time and provide better turnaround time for vessel repairing. In the long run, it says, the acquisition will open up new revenue opportunities in fabrication and high value-added services catering to the Oil & Gas industry.