Israel’s Zim Integrated Shipping Services has hired two banks to carry out its initial public offering (IPO) in the US, Bloomberg reported. Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd has hired Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit and Barclays Plc to lead a New York IPO, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, says the report. The IPO is planned for the first half of 2016. The shipping company, controlled by billionaire Idan Ofer’s Kenon Holdings Ltd., is planning to list shares by the first half of next year, the people told "Bloomberg", asking not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. “Zim has been contemplating going public and other financing options since 2007,” Maor Aharoni, a spokesman for the company, was quoted saying. “This strategy has not changed.