Hapag-Lloyd and the Chilean Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) are joining forces, by merging CSAV´s container business activities into Hapag-Lloyd, becoming the fourth-largest liner shipping company in the world. The corresponding contracts for the merger of the two companies were signed back in April in Hamburg. With approval from all the relevant global authorities all condition precedents were fulfilled.
The merger of Hapag-Lloyd AG with the container business activities of the Chilean shipping company founded in Valparaíso, in 1872, is expected to result in many synergies. Annual savings of at least US$300 million are anticipated simply as a result of network optimisations, improvements to productivity, and reductions in costs. The merged company will have around 200 vessels with a total capacity of approximately one million TEU, transporting some 7.5 million TEU every year and will set up its fourth regional headquarter in Valparaiso, Chile. With revenue of around US$12 billion, the combined entity joins the elite group of international shipping companies.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd: “This is a big day for both companies. 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”. He continues, “Our immediate priorities now are to continue to offer service to all of our customers and to honor all the commitments both companies made, whilst we plan the upcoming integration. There will be no major changes to the way we work until the transition to the Hapag-Lloyd systems towards the end of the first quarter 2015”.
Oscar Hasbún, CEO of CSAV, adds: “We are very proud of the fact that our two long-established companies will now become one of the most prominent players in the global container shipping industry and that this company has a firm foothold in Latin America, including our home market of Chile. We fit together perfectly thanks to our complementary network, our customer structure, and our excellent professionalism and reputation”.
In addition to integrating CSAV’s container business into Hapag-Lloyd, there are also plans to strengthen the company by raising capital of EUR 370 million (US$455.2 million) by 31 December 2014, in which CSAV will take a share of EUR 259 million and Kühne Maritime EUR 111 million (US$136.49 million). The ownership structure of Hapag-Lloyd AG will therefore change as follows: CSAV will become Hapag-Lloyd’s biggest shareholder with 34 per cent after the cash capital increase. The other shareholders are HGV (23.2 per cent), Kühne Maritime (20.8 per cent), TUI (13.9 per cent), Signal Iduna (3.3 per cent), HSH Nordbank (1.8 per cent), M.M. Warburg (1.8 per cent) and Hanse Merkur (1.1 per cent).
CSAV, HGV and Kühne Maritime have agreed to pool 51 per cent 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 per cent participation, while HGV and Kühne Maritime will own 25 per cent each.
The main processes of integrating CSAV’s container business into Hapag-Lloyd are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2015.
