Hapag-Lloyd Expected to Target September IPO

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday August 25, 2015

Industry speculation is pointing at September as the launch date for Hapag-Lloyd's IPO, ShippingWatch reports. 

According to reports, there were originally plans to debut either late 2015 or in 2016 after several consecutive quarters of positive results, though it is now expected that the company will move the date earlier so that Hapag Lloyd shares can trade on the Frankfurt Exchange in October.

The company is expected to raise around EUR 500 million ($567.8 million), with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Berenberg to handle the offering. 

However, Alphaliner analysts have so far cast doubts over the success of the IPO, noting that media speculation valuing Hapag-Lloyd at $5.50 billion was likely inaccurate. 

"CSAV (Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores), which owns 34 percent of Hapag-Lloyd’s share capital, has a market capitalisation of only $977 million based on its current share price on the Chilean stock exchange," said Alphaliner. 

"This implies a market valuation of less than $3.0 billion for Hapag-Lloyd, without even accounting for the value of CSAV’s non-liner shipping assets."

It was suggested that the company is looking for ways to raise capital to continue to alleviate its debt burdens. 

Earlier this year, the company reported that it had seen "solid" first quarter results following its merger with CSAV.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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