Report: COSCO’s OOCL Acquisition to Be Finalized by the End of June

The proposed takeover of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) by COSCO Shipping is expected to be completed by June 30, Reuters reported citing COSCO’s vice chairman as saying. 

As informed by Huang Xiaowen, the company’s vice chairman, COSCO is in the process of answering questions on the acquisition from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The company also needs to get a number of domestic approvals to proceed with the planned acquisition.

In 2017, COSCO Shipping Holdings and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) made an offer to buy all issued shares of Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL), the parent company of OOCL. The offer, made to the shareholders of OOIL, is worth USD 6.3 billion.

Once the transaction is completed, COSCO would hold 90.1% of OOIL, thus becoming the world’s third-largest container carrier. COSCO would have a combined fleet of 400 vessels, with capacity exceeding 2.9 million TEUs including orderbook, pushing CMA CGM from its spot, Drewry said last year.

The acquisition has been approved so far by COSCO’s shareholders, China State‑owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the US and the EU regulators.

World Maritime News Staff