Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Drewry: Merger and acquisition activity in shipping sector indicates optimism

Mergers and takeovers in the container shipping sector are on the rise, according to the latest issue of Container Insight from Drewry Maritime Research.

The researchers summarized some of the latest partnerships. Horizon Lines is selling its Hawaii operations for $141.5 million to the Pasha Group, and its Alaska services to Matson for $69.2m. CMA CGM recently bought OPDR for an unknown amount. Hamburg Süd purchased the container services of CCNI for $160 million. And Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV will complete their merger in the second quarter of 2015, forming the fourth largest shipping concern in the world.

Drewry says that these smaller deals, along with the more advanced transactions such as the merger between CSAV and Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Süd’s purchase of CCNI’s container activities, will not dramatically reshape the container shipping market. They do indicate that carriers are more confident and looking to expand.

Due to the high expense and complexity involved, Drewry predicts M&A activity will not occur between any of the big shipping lines, who are protecting themselves through more broad vessel sharing agreements.

Drewry concludes that container shipping M&A is gaining momentum but will be limited to smaller, regional deals for the time being.

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