GERMAN shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd, the six largest container line in the world, is nearing a deal to buy Chilean shipping company CSAV (Compania Sud Americana de Vapores), ranked 20th
Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said to be nearing merger with Chile's CSAV GERMAN shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd, the six largest container line in the world, is nearing a deal to buy Chilean shipping company CSAV (Compania Sud Americana de Vapores), ranked 20th, reported the German daily Die Welt."We want to reach an agreement by the end of January," a Hapag-Lloyd manager told the newspaper, but both Hapag and CSAV have declined comment, Reuters reported.
CSAV, which has a market capitalisation of US$845 million, said in December that it was in merger talks with Hapag-Lloyd after suffering significant losses caused by low freight rates, high fuel prices and expensive leases.
Under the deal, CSAV will take 30 per cent of Hapag-Lloyd, the newspaper reported, adding that it was still unclear whether its 54 ships will be part of the transaction or whether they will just be leased to Hapag-Lloyd, adding to its 152 ships in service.
Earlier, Hapag-Lloyd owners called off a planned merger with rival German line Hamburg-Sud, ranked 13th, over control issues.
The Luksic family, Chile's richest and CSAV's main shareholder since it injected US$1.2 billion into the company, is happy to hold a minority stake in the merged group, Die Welt said, citing a source close to the family.