Hapag Lloyd – Sale or No Sale?

On Friday (February 27) the Supervisory Board of TUI AG approved increasing its original proposed retained stake from one-third to 43.3% – making it the largest shareholder – in order to rescue the sale of the shipping line to the Hamburg-based consortium Albert Ballin.

To ensure the financial stability of the Hapag-Lloyd Group following the ownership change, Tui has also stated that it is willing to provide additional credit facilities worth up to €1bn for a limited period of time. The deal will be closed in the third week of March.

The Albert Ballin consortium, which includes logistics group Kuehne & Nagel International, bankers, shipping financers and insurers, as well as the Hamburg state government, was required to raise €4.45bn in order to take control of the container line. Last year, the consortium became the ‘favoured’ bidder ahead of the other suitor, Neptune Orient Line (NOL).