The ocean carriers say no major changes are planned until after the end of first quarter of 2015.
Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV have completed their merger, becoming the fourth largest container liner shipping company in the world.
The combined companies will have annual sales of about $12 billion and will operate around 200 ships.
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd, said, “This is a big day for both companies. With Hapag-Lloyd’s strength in Asian traffic and on the North Atlantic, combined with CSAV’s strong position in Latin America, we will become the leading shipping company in this region — and thereby be able to offer our global customers an even more attractive network and wider range of products. Our ability to compete will also be significantly enhanced by closing the gap to the top three of our industry.”
Only Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM will be larger than Hapag-Lloyd.
The merger, which has been in the works since April, was achieved by combining the container shipping operations of Chile’s CSAV with Hapag Lloyd. The Valparaiso, Chile-based shipping line will now become the largest shareholder of Hapag-Lloyd.
In addition to integrating CSAV’s container business into Hapag-Lloyd, there are also plans to strengthen Hapag-Lloyd by raising capital of €370 million ($459 million) by the end of this year, in which CSAV will take a share of €259 million, and Kühne Maritime will receive €111 million. After the capital increase, CSAV will own 34 percent of the company. Other major shareholders and their stakes are: HGV, the holding company of the City of Hamburg, 23.2 percent; Kühne Maritime, 20.8 percent; the tourism company TUI, 13.9 percent; insurer Signal Iduna, 3.3 percent; HSH Nordbank, 1.8 percent; the bank M.M. Warburg,1.8 percent; insurer Hanse Merkur, 1.1 percent.
Habben Jansen said, “Our immediate priorities now are to continue to offer excellent service to all of our customers and to honor all the commitments both companies made, whilst we plan the upcoming integration. There will be no major changes to the way we work until the transition to the Hapag-Lloyd systems toward the end of the first quarter 2015”.
CSAV will continue to operate non-container shipping assets such as car carrier and conventional reefer ships independently.
Hapag-Lloyd said annual savings of at least $300 million are anticipated simply as a result of network optimizations, improvements to productivity and reductions in costs.
The merged company will have around 200 vessels with a total capacity of approximately 1 million TEUs, transporting some 7.5 million TEUs every year. It will set up its fourth regional headquarters in Valparaiso.
Oscar Hasbún, CEO of CSAV, added, “We are very proud of the fact that our two long-established companies will now become one of the most prominent players in the global container shipping industry and that this company has a firm foothold in Latin America, including our home market of Chile. We fit together perfectly thanks to our complementary network, our customer structure, and our excellent professionalism and reputation.”
CSAV, HGV and Kühne Maritime have agreed to pool 51 percent of the shares in Hapag-Lloyd in order to discuss and make key decisions together in the future. Of this pool structure, CSAV owns a 50-percent participation, while HGV and Kühne Maritime will own 25 percent each.
The main processes of integrating CSAV’s container business into Hapag-Lloyd are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2015.
Hapag-Lloyd, CSAV complete merger
