German port giants Eurogate and HHLA discuss cooperation
Bremen’s Eurogate and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) are widely being tipped in German media circles to be discussing some form of merger.
Acknowledging the rumours, HHLA head Angela Titzrath has gone public to say that there could be a letter of intent for cooperation between the two container port operators by the end of the year.
The two companies will be present today at a German ports association meeting where the merger talk will likely be one of the hot topics.
“To boost operational efficiency and to build a counterweight to an increasingly consolidated field of carriers, HHLA and Eurogate consid- er to establish a set-up under which all of their container terminals at the German ports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven, would be transferred to a jointly-held special purpose vehicle,” Alphaliner suggested in its latest weekly report, adding that any deal hatched would likely not include the overseas holdings of the two companies.
HHLA currently has three container terminals in Hamburg, whereas Eurogate has three terminals at Bremerhaven and one each at Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.