By Jite Eriabie
Maersk Line has received clearance for its acquisition of German liner company Hamburg Süd in 18 jurisdictions, with three more approvals remaining to be secured, Søren Skou, CEO of Maersk Group said.
Describing the acquisition as “well-timed”, Skou said that in the best case scenario the remaining approvals would be obtained by the end of this month.
As informed, the company is going through motions with the relevant authorities from the remaining three geographies on clearing the deal.
The liner major confirmed its previous expectations on launching the integration of Hamburg Süd in the fourth quarter of 2017.
To remind, South Africa’s and Brazil‘s regulatory authorities gave their green lights to Maersk Line’s proposed acquisition of Hamburg Süd in October and September respectively.
Danish container shipping company said it would acquire Hamburg Süd for USD 4 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, which it plans to fully finance through an already secured syndicated loan facility.
Once the acquisition is completed, Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd will have a total container capacity of around 3.9 million TEU (3.3 million TEU) and an 18.7% (16%) global capacity share. The combined fleet will consist of 743 container vessels.
Estimated cost synergies are expected to range between USD 350-400 million by 2019 as earlier announced.
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