Hapag-Lloyd has been up for sale for some time. A group of investors from Hamburg, called in german "Hamburger Konsortium", look to be the high bidder.
This morning the JOC reported the German group got a few more people to throw in some money and have probably beat the NOL offer.
I am sure the parent company now wishes they decided to sell it last year when the shipping market was in much better shape. They have said they will make a final decision in mid-Oct. The deadline for bids was last week, with 2 groups placing bids. NOL and the Hamburger Konsortium (well, Kuehne & Nagel is based in Switzerland, but I think that's only for tax reasons).
There are a couple of reasons Kuehne & Nagel, as well as the Hamburg investors want to keep Hapag-Lloyd out of the hands of NOL.
First off, NOL is not friendly towards forwarders. Kuehne & Nagel is very big, and has made a lot of money as an intermediary between the steamship line and the shipper and/or receiver. They have had very close dealings with Hapag-Lloyd for many years, some of which caused fines by the FMC. If NOL bought Hapag-Lloyd, this cozy relationship would be no more.
Secondly, if NOL bought Hapag-Lloyd it would be absorbed and loose it's identity, as well as all the headquarter jobs in Germany. Germany has a long tradition as being a leader in shipping. They,as well as Switzerland, have an intern program for shipping, which turns out some of the best trained in the business. If Hapag-Lloyd goes away, the only liner carrier left would be Hamburg-Sued, leaving not too many spots for interns to train in liner shipping.
Apparently the investors of NOL won't be upset if they are outbid.
According to Bloomburg, the shares of NOL hit a 2 year low on concerns of this bid. Of course, I am not so sure that is the only reason the shares dropped. Tough times are ahead in the shipping industry, and people are just figuring that out.
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