Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the Singapore-based group, has confirmed that it has submitted a bid to acquire Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping company owned by TUI.
The group said in a statement that it had submitted the binding offer on Friday (26 September), the same day that a Hamburg, Germany-based consortium made a bid for Hapag-Lloyd.
'Any agreement would be subject to the acceptance of the bid by TUI, regulatory approvals and shareholders' approval,' NOL said. 'NOL remains bound by strict confidentiality undertakings, whichlegally restrict the company's ability to share information, and thedetails of the NOL bid remain confidential.'
NOL will create the third-largest container shipping group if it is successful, by merging Hapag-Lloyd with its APL unit, Reuter's analysts said.
The Hamburg consortium, including head of Swiss logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel Klaus Michael Kuehne and the city of Hamburg, wants to maintain Hapag-Lloyd's independent status as the fifth largest container shipping firm in the world.
