Palmer Johnson to buy ex-WorldCom chief's yacht company

SAVANNAH - Palmer Johnson Yachts is buying the yacht-building company of former WorldCom chief executive Bernie Ebbers. <br> <br> Palmer Johnson Savannah Incorporated said Wednesday that it signed a purchase agreement to acquire assets of BCT Real Estate LLC and Savanah Shipyards LLC, which have been doing business as Intermarine Savannah. <br> <br> Ebbers, who resigned in April from his WorldCom post, has been looking for a buyer for Intermarine Savannah since last year. He bought it in 1998 for $14 million and invested more than $60 million in the company, which refits yachts and builds boats with price tags between six million dollars and $15 million. <br> <br> Intermarine occupies 21 acres in Savannah, a covered dock capable of drydocking almost any yacht in the world, a main construction building more than 600 feet long, 700 feet of covered docks and a one-thousand ton marine railway. <br> <br> Clinton, Mississippi-based WorldCom, the once high-flying long-distance and Internet services company, filed for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection in July.