German shipping and container transportation firm Hapag-Lloyd has concluded the acquisition of Deutsche Afrika-Linien’s (DAL) container liner business.
The move comes after Hapag-Lloyd agreed to purchase the business in March this year.
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As part of the deal, Hapag-Lloyd acquired a 6,589TEU container ship from Africa-focused DAL, in addition to a fleet of around 17,800 boxes.
All responsible antitrust authorities have cleared the transaction.
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said: “We are very pleased with the closing of the transaction and looking forward to welcoming the DAL colleagues.
“With their broad experience and market knowledge, they will significantly support us to further grow in Africa, which remains an important strategic market for us. We will now fully integrate the DAL’s container liner activities into our business.”
DAL is expected to help Hapag-Lloyd provide a better network and additional port coverage for its customers, specifically from and to South Africa.
With four-liner services between Europe, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean, DAL is involved in the transportation of containerised cargo.
Based in Hamburg, DAL has its own offices in Germany and South Africa. It also offers services through third-party agents in 47 countries across the world.
The full commercial integration is anticipated to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Hapag-Lloyd acquired Africa-specialised carrier NileDutch, last year.
In addition, the firm opened several new offices in 2021 and 2020.
Last month, Damietta Alliance Container Terminal SAE, a joint venture between Hapag-Lloyd Damietta, Eurogate Damietta, and Contship Damietta, was established to develop and run a new terminal at the port of Damietta in Egypt.
