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MSC aims to become the second shareholder of the terminal company HHLA (which also operates in Italy, in Trieste). The city of Hamburg (which today holds 69% of the shares of Hamburger hafen und logistik aktiengesellschaft) and Mediterranean shipping company (which is owned by the Aponte family) have signed a binding memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership concerning, precisely, Hhla.
MSC, in fact, intends to acquire all the floating class A shares of Hhla and announces its intention to launch a voluntary public purchase offer at 16.75 euros per A share (57% premium compared to the weighted average price for the 30 day volume). The offer values HHLA’s entire share capital at 1.7 billion euros.
One million containers a year
HHLA will then be managed as a strategic joint venture, with the city of Hamburg holding a 50.1% stake and MSC potentially holding a stake of up to 49.9%. 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 to reaching 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 commit to creating a long-term investment plan to be developed together with Hhla.
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”.