Hapag-Lloyd wraps up NileDutch acquisition

Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd — the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company — has closed the acquisition of Dutch container shipping specialist Nile Dutch Investments B.V. (NileDutch).

After signing a sales and purchase agreement in March 2021, Hapag-Lloyd has now formally acquired all shares of the company, having received antitrust clearances.

“We are very excited about closing the deal and look forward to working with our new colleagues to unlock the enormous potential that Africa has to offer,” Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, commented.

“With the people from NileDutch joining our company, Hapag-Lloyd is noticeably increasing the number of employees on the ground in Africa. We are happy and excited to welcome NileDutch’s roughly 320 employees to the Hapag-Lloyd family.”  

Depending on market conditions, Hapag-Lloyd and NileDutch are aiming to integrate major parts of their businesses already in the later part of 2021.

With 40 years of experience in the market, Rotterdam-based NileDutch is present in 85 locations across the world and has 16 offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Singapore, China, Angola, Congo and Cameroon. The company also brings with it seven liner services, around 35,000 TEU of transport capacity, and a container fleet with a capacity of around 80,000 TEU.

“The integration will be moving at a swift pace and full commercial integration is expected to be completed by the end of 2021,” Hapag-Lloyd said.

The merger closure comes two weeks after Hapag-Lloyd revealed a $1 billion order for six dual-fuel ultra large container vessels (ULCVs). The 23,500 TEU ships will be built by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and will play an important role in the company’s fleet modernization program.

With more than 230 boxships in its fleet, Hapag-Lloyd makes gradual improvements in vessel design and propulsion. Among other specific targets, the carrier strives to reduce CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2030, compared with 2008, the reference year of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).