Archives



Freight News, Sea


Hapag Lloyd-CSAV merger complete

[ December 2, 2014   //   ]

Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) have obtained approval for their merger from all relevant national authorities, the two container lines said on 2 December. Contracts for the merger of the two companies were signed back in April in Hamburg.

The merged entity will be the fourth biggest container line in the world with about 200 vessels and a total capacity of 1m teu, transporting 7.5m teu every year and with revenues of around US$12 billion. Annual savings of at least $300 million are anticipated as a result of network optimisation. The main part of the integration process is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2015.

Hapag Lloyd CEO, Rolf Habben Jansen, said: “With Hapag-Lloyd’s strength in Asian traffic and on the North Atlantic, combined with CSAV’s strong position in Latin America, we will become the leading shipping company in this region – and thereby be able to offer our global customers an even more attractive network and wider range of products. Our ability to compete will also be significantly enhanced by closing the gap to the top three of our industry”.

The merged company also plans to raise €370 million capital by the end of the year – CSAV will €259 million and Kühne Maritime €111 million. CSAV will thus become become Hapag-Lloyd’s biggest shareholder with 34% after the cash capital increase. Other shareholders include HGV (23.2%), Kühne Maritime (20.8%) and TUI (13.9%).

CSAV, HGV and Kühne Maritime have agreed to pool 51% of the shares in Hapag-Lloyd in order to discuss and make key decisions together in the future. Of this pool structure, CSAV owns a 50% participation, while HGV and Kühne Maritime will own 25% each.

Tags: ,