FRANKFURT, July 15 (Reuters) – German container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd is speeding up preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) and has picked Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Berenberg to lead the transaction, two people familiar with the matter said.
A flotation of a minority stake could value the world’s fourth-largest shipping group at more than 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) and could take place as early as autumn, Dow Jones reported earlier on Wednesday.
Hapag Lloyd and the banks declined to comment.
When it announced its merger with the container shipping activities of Chilean rival Vapores last year, Hapag-Lloyd said it would seek to list on the stock exchange.
But CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said in May a flotation was more likely after 2015.
Europe’s largest tourism group TUI, which holds 13.9 percent in Hapag, has stressed in the past that it wants to sell its stake in the event of an IPO as part of a strategy to focus solely on tourism activities.
The Vapores owner family holds 34 percent in the combined group, while the city of Hamburg holds 23.2 percent and entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kuehne holds 20.8 percent, with smaller stakes held by financial investors.
High stock market valuations have led several groups to speed up flotation plans.
In Germany, mortgage lender Pfandbriefbank, which is slated to have its debut on Thursday, opted for an early time slot.
Bayer’s plastics maker Covestro, construction materials group Xella and packaging group Mauser have also brought forward IPO plans.
Hapag-Lloyd swung to a first-quarter profit this year, thanks to the stronger U.S. dollar, lower fuel prices and the first effects of its merger.
Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen has previously said the company would like to get three or four good quarters under its belt before floating a minority stake. ($1 = 0.9107 euros) (Reporting by Alexander Hübner and Arno Schuetze; additional reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)
By Julian Lee (Bloomberg) Moscow’s use of the tankers sanctioned for their involvement in the Russian oil trade is accelerating, with close to one-third of the blacklisted vessels back at work....
By Gautam Naik (Bloomberg) After fearing the worst from Hurricane Milton, investors in catastrophe bonds appear to have sustained losses well below those predicted as recently as Wednesday. Estimates that had...
Oct 8 (Reuters) – Former Amazon.com Consumer CEO Dave Clark said on Tuesday his new software supply chain management startup Auger has raised over $100 million in private equity funding from Oak HC/FT and...
October 8, 2024
Total Views: 1007
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.