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Hapag-Lloyd confirms plans for $500m IPO

Hapag-Lloyd expects to raise $500m (€447m) in its initial public offering (IPO) and has confirmed it will list its shares on the Frankfurt and Hamburg stock exchanges.

The container line plans to invest the proceeds in new vessels, as well as “to further strengthen its capital structure, long-term growth and profitability”, a statement said today.

Around $400m (€358m) will be raised through the sale of newly issued shares to institutional and retail investors, the Hamburg-based carrier said.

Hapag-Lloyd’s existing major shareholders Kühne Maritime and Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores will each buy a tranche of shares worth $50m (€45m).

The IPO will also comprise additional shares from TUI and a market standard greenshoe.

Today’s statement did not disclose when the shares would be listed, but previous reports have suggested it could be as early as November. Earlier reports had rumoured that the IPO would raise up to $5.5bn.

“The IPO is an important milestone in the history of Hapag-Lloyd”, said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. “This move will give us better access to the capital markets which will enable us to further invest in our business to become more competitive, which will be good for our customers, our people and our shareholders. We are especially pleased about the investment of our core shareholders which underlines once more their confidence in the future of Hapag-Lloyd.”

Following its acquisition of Chilean container line Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) last year, Hapag-Lloyd is the world’s fourth biggest container carrier in terms of capacity.

Its fleet consists of 188 container ships with a total capacity of around 1m teu.  Five 10,500-teu container ships are scheduled for delivery between October 2016 and May 2017.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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