Just Now, MSC's Plan To Acquire The Port Of Hamburg Has Made Significant Progress.

It has been announced that the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of HHLA, the main operator of the Port of Hamburg, Germany's largest port, have recommended to its shareholders to accept the offer made by MSC.

MSC, the world's largest container shipping company controlled by the Aponte family, is understood to have recently reached an agreement with the City of Hamburg to operate HHLA as a joint venture, with MSC acquiring all of HHLA's outstanding shares at a price of 16.75 euros per share for a 49.9 percent stake in the company.

In October, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) in Berlin also approved the deal, which has since been fiercely criticized by local participants and employee representatives.

More than half of HHLA's revenues come from container terminals in Hamburg, Odessa, Tallinn, and Trieste, with HHLA's three container terminals in Hamburg having a 75% market share locally; HHLA's intermodal business, Metrans, generates nearly 40% of its total revenues.

As part of its move into Hamburg, MSC plans to expand cargo throughput at HHLA's terminals as early as 2025 and from 2031 onwards to a minimum of 1 million tEU. The company will also establish a new German headquarters in Hamburg after the closure, with 500 to 700 employees in the city.

HHLA has signed a preliminary binding framework agreement with MSC and the City of Hamburg covering key aspects related to the long-term protection of the company and its business model, with certain individual points to be finalized in the coming weeks.

Subject to the approval of the Hamburg Parliament, the joint venture will provide HHLA with an additional equity of EUR 450 million for investments in business operations in the coming years.

HHLA will retain the decision-making power for the planning of its investments, ensuring the modernization of HHLA's container terminals in Hamburg and the international expansion of the intermodal network in the coming years.

Angela Titzrath, CEO of HHLA, said, "This provides us with considerable additional resources to drive the successful development of HHLA more aggressively and rapidly into a leading European logistics company, opening up significant growth and business opportunities for HHLA, our stakeholders, and Hamburg."

Rüdiger Grube, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HHLA, added: "With the agreement, we are securing the future viability of HHLA and its business model. As the offer was deemed sufficient after our review, the HHLA Supervisory Board and Executive Board recommend acceptance of MSC's offer."