The main shareholders of Hapag-Lloyd have extended their alliance ahead of schedule by four more years. This is intended to give the company security.
The Chilean CSAV (Compania Sudamericana de Vapores) and Kühne Maritime, owned by logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne, each hold 30% of the shares. The agreement between the two anchor shareholders stipulated that voting rights could be pooled if necessary in order to bring about important decisions and would have expired on 31 December 2026. It has now been extended bilaterally ahead of schedule by four years until the end of 2030.
What is the City of Hamburg doing with Hapag-Lloyd?
The City of Hamburg was also involved in the previous agreement via the investment company HGV, which currently holds 13.9% of the shares. All three shareholders had concluded this shareholders’ pact after the merger of Hapag-Lloyd with CSAV ten years ago in order to be able to control the majority of the new company.
In the original agreement, CSAV and Kühne had undertaken to hold their shares for at least ten years. HGV could have sold 50% of its shares after just five years. However, in 2022, all three partners initially extended the agreement until 2026.
Following the merger with USAC in 2016, the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding (12.3%) and the Public Investment Fund from Saudi Arabia (10.2%) were added as shareholders. Only 3.6% of the shares are in free float.
Hapag-Lloyd is the No. 5 in global container shipping behind MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and Cosco. The Hamburg-based shipping company will operate in “THE Alliance” with ONE, HMM and Yang Ming until January 2025, before the Hamburg-based company’s “Gemini Cooperation” with Maersk starts in February.
