Suitor News

Four investment groups are looking to acquire the Israeli port of Haifa estimated to be valued as high as $600 million with formal bids expected towards October, sources with knowledge of the matter said.Israel is selling its state-owned ports and building new private docks in an effort to encourage competition and bring down costs. At the same time, warming ties with neighboring Arab countries are creating new trade opportunities and Haifa is well placed to become a regional…

SBM Offshore, the Netherlands-based FPSO supplier, has shared a video of its Liza Unity FPSO Hull going into the dry dock in Singapore.The hull was ordered on speculation in 2017 as the first of what are now five hulls being built as part of SBM Offshore's Fast4Ward standardized-FPSO-hull program. ExxonMobil then came out as the suitor for the unit, and the FPSO will be deployed at its Liza field in Guyana.The Liza Unity hull was built by Shanghai's SWS shipyard and has recently arrived in Singapore for topside integration.Shortly after arriving in Singapore in February 2020…

COSCO Shipping Holdings Co Ltd saw its stock climb on Monday after bidding $6.3 billion for a Hong Kong peer, a deal that would see it become the world's third-biggest container shipper and underline China's supply-chain ambitions. The offer for Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) comes as China's government pushes to raise the country's profile in global shipping, which dovetails with its Belt and Road initiative aimed at increasing China's influence over distribution from Asia to Europe. Beijing merged two shippers last year to form COSCO Shipping which, after the latest deal, will rise from fourth to rank only behind Denmark's Maersk Line and Switzerland's Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).

Greece has received only one bid to build and run a new rail freight terminal outside Athens, a project it has been trying to get underway for years, the country's transport ministry said on Tuesday. The bid is from ETBA, a unit of Greece's Piraeus Bank which develops and manages industrial parks, in collaboration with Goldair, a domestic firm offering cargo and logistics services, the ministry said. The selected investor will build and operate the terminal at Thriasio for 60 years under a 250 million-euro ($280 million) investment plan which will create a new rail freight transport hub linking up with Greece's largest port of Piraeus.

Greece is still struggling to find investors for a rail freight hub that it has been trying to set up since 2008, sources close to the process said on Monday. China's COSCO had been expected to team up with other investors after the Greek government launched a new tender for the 250 million euro ($280 million) investment project last year, part of a bid to turn Greece to a European transhipment hub. Greece, which had to turn to its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund in 2010 for help in riding out a debt crisis, is still struggling to revive its economy. The selected investor will have to build a terminal with access to the national railway network and Greece's largest port in Piraeus and operate it for 60 years.

Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group wants to make Gategroup into the "undisputed leader in airline catering" after making an offer for the Swiss business, HNA's chief executive said on Monday.   HNA's 53 Swiss franc per share cash offer was unanimously supported by the Swiss caterer's board.   While a rival bid was still possible, Gategroup Chairman Andreas Schmid said on a media conference call, the company was not actively seeking other offers.   HNA Chief Executive Adam Tan did not respond directly when asked whether the Chinese conglomerate would be willing to up its bid if another suitor made a bid. "We've already made a very attractive offer to the shareholders," Tan said.   (Reporting by Paul Arnold, Writing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)

China Merchants Group has made an informal bid for London’s Baltic Exchange, says a report in Reuters. The State-run conglomerate has made an informal offer through a subsidiary, China Merchants Securities. An acquisition of the Baltic, which was founded in 1744, would give the Chinese conglomerate ownership of the industry's benchmark indices - which could be further commercialized - and greater access to the multi-billion dollar freight derivatives market. It emerged in February that the Baltic Exchange, a financial maritime hub located in the heart of the City of London, was being eyed by several companies, including the Singapore Exchange, CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Platts. Japanese investment bank Nomura is advising the Baltic Exchange on a potential sale.

The global shipping industry consolidation appears to be picking up, with much of the activity centering on Asia, reports Nikkei. The overcapacity and weaker global trade have fueled talk of a shakeout in the industry. CMA CGM is in “exclusive” talks with Neptune Orient Lines’ (NOL) largest shareholder, Temask, for the purchase of its APL container liner business. Over in China, the top two state-owned operators are in the final stages of merger talks. NOL announced that CMA CGM had been granted exclusive negotiating rights, through Dec. 7. Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, which owns 68% of the shipping company, has been seeking a buyer since early summer. The French suitor beat Denmark-headquartered A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world leader, for pole position.

As Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, readied is to sell Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the market has been rife with merger talk with Hong Kong's Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) and Hamburg's Hapag-Lloyd being leading candidates. NOL was in merger talks with Hapag-Lloyd back in 2008, but investors became gun-shy when the market crashed later that year. Japan's NYK and MOL have also been mentioned as suitors. Some say a bid for NOL would make sense now, following the APL Logistics divestment, because MOL or NYK could buy the Singapore line without overlap with its substantial logistics operations. However, responding to media reports, NOL says there is yet no decision made to enter into any agreement to sell the company.

Though the new Greece government has canceled the port of Piraeus’s privatization, Chinese group COSCO's interest in expanding its activity in the port remains strong. COSCO was the main suitor for the 67.7 percent stake in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), which privatization fund TAIPED had planned to sell off. Denmark’s APM Terminals was also trying to get the contract. Chinese group COSCO has had a strong presence over the past five years in the Piraeus port. Its subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) manages Piers II and III at Greece's largest port of Piraeus since 2009 under a 35-year concession agreement. Greek officials reassured that…

In early July, Raina Clark, Managing Editor for MarineNews, spent eight days on the Upper Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers on towboats — the Theresa Wood and the Thomas E. Erickson. Both vessels are chartered by AEP River Operations and owned and operated by Marquette Transportation. Raina traveled first aboard the Theresa Wood on the Mississippi River from Winfield, Mo. to Guttenberg Wis. Then she crossed the state of Illinois to catch the Thomas E. Erickson southbound on the Illinois River from Pekin, Ill. back to the confluence of the Mississippi River.

The company reported second quarter earnings of $133.9m, or $1.01 per share, up from $97.5 million, or 76 cents per share in the year-ago period. Sales were up to $1.3b. Manitowoc Co. is negotiating to sell its marine division that builds ships, including military vessels, European news reported. The suitor is said to be Fincantieri, according to the reports. Source:  Financial Wire

Smit Internationale, the biggest marine-salvage company, may be heading for a takeover two months after rejecting a $300m bid for its oil-tanker towing unit. The shares, already lifted by record crude prices, have jumped 25 percent since Chief Executive Officer Ben Vree rebuffed the offer for Smit Terminals from Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, the world's largest dredging company, and a Saudi partner. The unit tows vessels to offshore oil and gas terminals. A complete takeover would add 399 vessels and allow the rejected suitor to overtake Svitzer, part of A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, as the owner of the world's largest tugboat fleet. Rotterdam-based Smit is ready to hold talks, the report said.

The AP has reported that the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. said it has agreed to a $6.3 billion offer from Singapore port operator PSA International -- a switch of alliances that is likely to spark a bidding war for the 165-year-old British maritime icon. The approach from PSA trumped a 3.3 billion pound ($5.9 billion) cash offer from government-owned Dubai Ports World that P&O agreed to in November. P&O Chairman John Parker noted that the 470 pence ($8.40) per share offer from PSA, which would make the combined company the world's largest ports operator, was a 6 percent premium on the 443 pence ($7.91) offered by DP World. Shares in P&O were trading above both offers Thursday, up 1.8 percent at 516.25 pence ($9.22).