Hamburg consortium buys Hapag-Lloyd for €4.45bn

Hapag-Lloyd AG will be sold to a subsidiary of Albert Ballin KG. TUI will be an active investor in the new company by investing €700m for a 33.33% entrepreneurial stake in the new company. According to TUI CEO Dr Michael Frenzel, retaining a one-third stake in Hapag-Lloyd enables TUI to benefit from future earnings potential. The transaction will be subject to approval by the anti-trust authorities.

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) of Singapore officially pulled out of the bidding process on Friday, October 10, after having submitted a binding offer for Hapag-Lloyd on September 26. Following reports of local demands that Hapag-Lloyd remain under German ownership, Frenzel pointed out that the consortium submitted a better offer and won the bid in a fair bidding process. A neutral investment bank not involved in the sale process has confirmed that a fair sale price has been achieved and that the decision was based exclusively on value criteria, according to TUI.

TUI is entitled to sell shares in the company, and co-shareholders have a pre-emption right. Moreover, TUI has a right of first offer to sell the shares to the Hamburg-based consortium. The first exercise date for this option will be January 1, 2012.