ITALIAN shipbuilder Fincantieri said today it has completed its acquisition of 51% of shares in Norwegian offshore vessel builder STX OSV.

Fincantieri bought 599M ordinary shares of STX OSV ?run by CEO Roy Reite ?at S$1.22 ($0.99) per share, for a total spending of �455M ($606M).

Further, the group said it firmly intends to launch a mandatory cash offer for shares it still does not own at $0.99 each.

The total value of both the recent acquisition and the mandatory unconditional cash offer is estimated at $1.2Bn.

Both transactions will be financed mainly from Fincantieri's internal resources and with a syndicate loan from a pool of banks: Banca IMI, BNP Paribas (Italian branch), Carige, Unicredit and by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

The acquisition marks Fincantieri's entry into a market segment it considers “complementary to its current ones?

With 21 yards on three continents and revenues of �4Bn, Fincantieri aims to double its size to become the world’s fifth-largest builder, behind four Korean peers.