German shipping and container transportation firm Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to purchase the container liner business of compatriot Deutsche Afrika-Linien (DAL).
Under the deal, Hapag-Lloyd will acquire a 6,589TEU container ship from Africa-focused DAL, along with a container fleet of around 17,800 boxes.
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The transaction furthers Hapag-Lloyd’s strategy to grow in Africa.
The financial terms have not been shared and the deal is currently awaiting clearance from antitrust authorities.
Based in Hamburg, DAL is engaged in the transportation of containerised cargo.
It runs four liner services between Europe, South Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The firm has its own offices in Germany and South Africa, in addition to being represented through third-party agents in 47 countries across the globe.
DAL’s liner business, including agencies, has a workforce of more than 150.
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Habben Jansen said: “Africa remains an important strategic growth market. Particularly for our service offering from and to South Africa, DAL is a valuable addition allowing us to offer our customers a better network and additional port coverage in this region.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming the DAL colleagues. With their broad experience and market knowledge, they will significantly support us to further grow in Africa.”
In 2021, Hapag-Lloyd acquired Africa-specialist NileDutch, a container shipping firm, and also launched new offices in Kenya, Morocco and Senegal, following the opening of their Quality Service Centre (QSC) in Mauritius in 2020.
Last September, Hapag-Lloyd unveiled plans to invest in the German port of JadeWeserPort Wilhelmshaven.
