Hapag-Lloyd/CSAV Makes Global Top 10

The merger of Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV will create a container fleet ranked 5th in the world by value $M, according to data from VesselsValue.com. The current container fleet is worth $131 billion, with the top 10 companies owning 33 per cent of the total value.

Hapag-Lloyd AG and Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) signed a binding contract in April on merging CSAV’s entire container business with Hapag-Lloyd. Following the integration, the new Hapag-Lloyd will have some 200 vessels with total transport capacity of around one million TEU, an annual transport volume of 7.5 million TEU and a combined turnover of 9 billion Euro. 

In return for contributing its container business, CSAV will become a new Hapag-Lloyd core shareholder besides HGV (City of Hamburg) and Kühne Maritime. CSAV will initially hold a 30 per cent stake in the combined entity. The partners have agreed on a capital increase of EUR 370 million once the transaction has been concluded, to which CSAV will contribute EUR 259 million. This will then increase CSAV’s share of Hapag-Lloyd to 34 per cent. A second capital increase of EUR 370 million will be linked to Hapag-Lloyd’s planned stock exchange listing.

Order books are also complementary: While, at the end of April, Hapag-Lloyd will put into service the last of ten 13,200 TEU vessels ordered for the Far East trade, CSAV still has seven vessels, each of 9,300 TEU, scheduled for delivery in 2014 and 2015. These container ships are specially designed for the South American trade.
 
Both companies also fit in other regards: CSAV, founded in 1872, and Hapag-Lloyd, founded in 1847, share a similar blend of long tradition and entrepreneurial vision for the future.