MSc choose the port of Hamburg as a central hub for the global container services and logistics network.
The group of Gianluigi Aponte launched a takeover bid for Hhla (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft) and entered into a partnership with City of Hamburg, Hhla's largest shareholder with 69%, for joint management.
The Swiss company, as well as the largest container transport company in the world, has put it on the table 16,75 € for each type A action, at a premium of 57% compared to the 30-day volume-weighted average price). The offer values HHLA's entire share capital at 1,7 billion euros. Under the agreement, Hhla will be operated in strategic jv: if the takeover bid is successful, the City of Hamburg will hold 50,1%, MSC, Mediterranean shipping company, the remaining 49,9%.
MSC takeover bid on the port of Hamburg: the plan to increase containers
Over the course of the partnership, MSC is committed to increasing the volume of containers handled in Hamburg's HHLA terminals, starting from 2025 and reach 1 million TEUs (20 foot containers) per year, from 2031 onwards.
MSC will also establish its new German headquarters, "with several hundred employees", the company promises, in Hamburg. The Italian-Swiss group and the city of Hamburg will also undertake to implement a plan long-term investments to be developed together with Hhla.
The port of Hamburg will become MSC's central hub
The objective of the partnership, explains a note, is “to establish a solid and well-structured basis for the further development of HHLA and the entire port of Hamburg, making it a central hub for MSC's global network of container and logistics services. The company thus acquires a strategic stake in a leading European logistics company, with a network of container terminals in Hamburg, Odessa, Tallinn and Trieste, excellent hinterland connections, the Metrans railway company and well-connected intermodal hubs in Europe central and eastern".
The strange statements of billionaire Kuehne
There is some mystery surrounding the statements of Klaus-Michael Kuehne one of the main German logistics operators and one of the richest men in Germany (although resident in Switzerland) immediately after the news of the takeover bid. Kuehne, who in the past had already said he was critical of the management of the Hamburg terminal and had expressed his intention to acquire it, expressed his intention to evaluate a counter-offer, specifying - in a statement released to Reuters - to examine "the presentation of a public takeover bid", but to prefer "an agreement with the city of Hamburg on privatisation". The next day, however, in an email, the economic authority of the city of Hamburg declared that there is no counteroffer on the table from the billionaire. Kuehne is the owner of 53,3% of the Kuehne-Nagel company and the holder of a higher share package in Lufhtansa than that in the hands of the German state (15,01% for him, 14,09% for the Berlin government)
The presence of the Chinese Cosco
Last spring the Chinese company Cosco Shipping Ports Limited in the Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) obtained the OK from the German government, after months of negotiations, for the purchase of 24,9% of one of the three container terminals of the port of Hamburg. Cosco also controls part of the port of Trieste.
Hhla is also present in Italy
MSC, moreover, has invested heavily in the development of its portfolio of intermodal solutions, including the railway that extends from the Portuguese Sines to ours Trieste, and worked to move more and more goods from the street to railroad, as foreseen by its objectives of decarbonization of the terrestrial logistics network.
The agreement would therefore allow MSC to expand its portfolio of port terminals. Through its subsidiary Terminal investments limited (Til), the group already operates 70 terminals worldwide, including terminals in Antwerp, Singapore and Rotterdam.
Expansion also in Africa
To further increase its global presence in terminals, MSC has also acquired Agl (Africa global logistics), a logistics provider with a strong presence on the African continent, with intermodal solutions and 21 port concessions.
MSC also has a fleet of 760 ships and is currently carrying out a massive fleet modernization plan. The group plans to take delivery of more than 90 newbuildings over the next three years, including Celestino Maresca-class ships of more than 24.000 TEUs.
