News

The German state of Hamburg announced Tuesday it would lead a takeover bid for the world's fifth-biggest container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd, to shut out non-German ownership. Neptune Orient Line (NOL), the Singapore government's shipping group, is among world ship operators drafting bids for Germany's biggest shipping line, news reports say. A Hamburg newspaper said NOL consistently refused any comment on those reports. Hapag-Lloyd has been put up for sale by its German owner, the TUI vacations group, under pressure from shareholders who are eager to unlock cash value. Hamburg has demanded that the head office remain in the city along with the jobs this creates.
The state's finance minister, Michael Freytag, said Hamburg would invest "a three-digit number" of millions of euros as part of a consortium of local business people planning a bid by the July 21 deadline. The private partners would offer the "main part."
Freytag said Hamburg was unwilling to enter a bidding war.
"We won't pay a sky-high price," he said.
Market analysts have suggested Hapag-Lloyd is worth about 5 billion euros (about 8 billion dollars). Its main business is container traffic on main routes and it has left bulk carrying to its shipping rivals.
Since 2004, the state has bought stakes in a skin-care-products company, Beiersdorf, and a local copper refinery to thwart non-German control. It has also taken a small stake in the EADS company to gain a boardroom voice and protect the Hamburg Airbus plane factory.
The state argued that relief for unemployed people after a big corporate closure would cost it more than a strategic investment.