EMEA News
Hapag-Lloyd Calls off Hamburg Süd Merger Talks
Merger talks between Hapag-Lloyd AG (Hapag-Lloyd) and Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft KG (Hamburg Süd) have been called off after three months, Hapag-Lloyd's majority owners, the Albert Ballin consortium, said in a brief statement Sunday.
Hamburg Süd's owners, the Oetker family, were said to have had asked for negotiations to be abandoned because the companies had been unable to agree terms.
Germany's two largest container shipping companies announced they were in talks over a possible merger in December 2012, which would have created the world's fourth-largest shipping company with an annual revenue over $13 billion, a fleet of 250 vessels, and 11,500 employees.
Westend Brokers Research analyst Klaus Kraenzle said at the time that without a merger, in the long-term Hamburg-Sued would run into difficulties in keeping up with the "big industry players."
Hapag-Lloyd last week reported it more than quadrupled its net loss for 2012, loosing €128 million ($166 million) compared to €29 million ($37.5 million) in 2011.
