TUI closes US$6 billion Hapag-Lloyd sale to Hamburg investors group

GERMAN tourism and transport giant TUI AG announced that it has closed the deal on selling its majority stake in Hapag-Lloyd to the Hamburg investors group called Albert Ballin Holding GmbH & Co KG for EUR4.45 billion (US$6 billion).

TUI has acquired a 43.3 per cent stake in the Albert Ballin and will receive EUR1.6 billion from that transaction, reported American Shipper. At the same time, TUI said it would guarantee the stability of its old container shipping unit by providing an additional EUR1.1 billion for a limited period as an interest-bearing facility.

TUI chief executive Michael Frenzel will continue to chair the Hapag board with his company supplying six supervisory directors. Albert Ballin Holding owners include the city of Hamburg, MM Warburg bank and investor Klaus-Michael Kuehne, the principal stakeholder in Kuehne & Nagel, the Swiss logistics giant.

Paris-based shipping analysts AXS Alphaliner ranks Hapag-Lloyd as the sixth-largest container carrier with 128 ships, 62 owned and 66 chartered ships, with total capacity of 488,030 TEU. There are also 14 ships on order for its fleet, aggregating 122,500 TEU.
 

Source: Transportweekly