Hanjin files for Receivership, Ports Turn Away Vessels
Hanjin says asks court for its assets to be frozen; Hyundai Merchant looking to buy Hanjin's "good" assets. South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for court receivership on Wednesday after losing the support of its banks, setting the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels. Banks led by state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) withdrew backing for the world's seventh-largest container carrier on Tuesday, saying a funding plan by its parent group was inadequate to tackle debt that stood at 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) at the end of 2015. Hanjin Shipping, South Korea's biggest shipping firm…
Hapag Lloyd IPO Valued at Over $5.5 Bln
A flotation of a minority stake could value the world's fourth-largest shipping group German-Chilean Hapag-Lloyd AG at more than 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) and could take place as early as autumn. Hapag-Lloyd AG has already mandated investment banks Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Inc. and Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. to advise on the initial public offering (IPO), as per various media reports. The reports indicate Hapag-Lloyd expediting efforts to float a minority stake on the Frankfurt stock exchange as early as this fall. The net proceeds from the IPO could be used to cover the company’s pretty extensive debt of USD 3.65 billion. However, the plans are yet to be confirmed by Hapag-Lloyd.
Berenberg in $1.1bln Box Bid
The world's second-oldest bank Joh. Berenberg Gossler & Co. KG is lining up a new fund worth EUR 1bn ($1.1bn) for the containership sector. A report appeared in Bloomberg said that will boost lending to the maritime industry through the shipping fund for institutional investors seeking an alternative to record low bond yields. Andreas Schultheis, head of international shipping at Berenberg said that his bank plans to draw insurers, pension funds and saving banks into shipping, promoting the debt fund as a counter-cyclical investment. The first step will be a 100 million-euro portfolio in the first half of this year and the bank believes it may grow to 1 billion euros in the coming years.
