Hamburg Sud, CCNI Deal Next Month
Hamburg Sud has entered into a long-expected purchase agreement for Chilean shipping line CCNI (Compania Chilena De Navigacion Interocea) for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is expected to close by end-March pending approval by antitrust authorities, said Hamburg Sud, adding that the CCNI brand would continue.
The Agreement between the German ship-owner and his South American counterpart was announced in July 2014. The transaction, in the amount of € 160 million was originally scheduled to conclude in December.
The sale includes that of Agunsa Agencias Universales (Agunsa), which ensures the agent function of the Chilean company Valaparaiso and in the capital Santiago. The business generated US$750 million in revenues last year.
"The CCNI / Agunsa operations are scheduled to be transferred at the end of March 2015, subject to approval from the competition authorities," said sources.
A team from CMS in Germany led by Dr Christian von Lenthe (lead partner) and Dr Arne Burmester (lead coordinator) advised Hamburg Süd on all aspects of the transaction, which took the form of an asset deal involving several jurisdictions worldwide.
With this Hamburg Sud can take a position of prominence in the west coast of Latin America (which means 42% of the volumes transported annually Hamburg Süd) much faster than if it had done organically in a market that is not growing.
The German company expected to make the purchase before the end of last year at which time CCNI disclosed that the German shipping line offered $160 million.
Hamburg Sud spokeswoman Eva Graumann said that Hamburg Sud will take over 750 employees from CCNI and Agunsa across South and Central America, Europe and Asia, 15 period charter contracts for vessels with intakes of 1,000-9,000 TEU and 60,000 actual boxes.