Hapag-Lloyd in no hurry to float
German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is in no hurry to try again to list on the stock market. "We have all the time in the world for an initial public offering. There is no pressure at all to do something," a source close to Hapag's owners told Reuters.
Shareholder TUI AG, which also controls Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel, had tried to float a stake in Hapag-Lloyd last year. The attempt was derailed by market turbulence following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
TUI, which has long been seeking to exit the shipping market, earlier this year cut its Hapag stake to 22 percent and said it could call an IPO, with priority placement of its shares, at any time from June.
The shipping firm's other owner is the Albert-Ballin consortium, a group of investors led by the German city state of Hamburg and Klaus-Michael Kuehne, majority owner of Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel.
After profits were hit last year by lower freight rates and currency swings, Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Michael Behrendts said in March he wanted the shipping firm to have two good quarters under its belt before testing the market.
Behrendts said Hapag-Lloyd, which reports first-quarter results on May 10, had been able to push through price rises in March and planned more for April.
"Even though freight rates are improving, the market is still difficult, especially for an IPO of the size of Hapag-Lloyd," said one Frankfurt-based analyst.
The city of Hamburg, too, is not keen to push for an IPO if a shaky market environment means the shares will straight away lose value and result in a loss on its investment, the source close to the group's owners said.
Hapag Lloyd has no concrete plans for a flotation, a spokesman told Reuters. However, it could quickly start the process given the preparation it already made last year.
"The owners have said it's the route they wish to take, but the decision is up to them," the spokesman said.
Shareholder TUI AG, which also controls Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel, had tried to float a stake in Hapag-Lloyd last year. The attempt was derailed by market turbulence following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
TUI, which has long been seeking to exit the shipping market, earlier this year cut its Hapag stake to 22 percent and said it could call an IPO, with priority placement of its shares, at any time from June.
The shipping firm's other owner is the Albert-Ballin consortium, a group of investors led by the German city state of Hamburg and Klaus-Michael Kuehne, majority owner of Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel.
After profits were hit last year by lower freight rates and currency swings, Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Michael Behrendts said in March he wanted the shipping firm to have two good quarters under its belt before testing the market.
Behrendts said Hapag-Lloyd, which reports first-quarter results on May 10, had been able to push through price rises in March and planned more for April.
"Even though freight rates are improving, the market is still difficult, especially for an IPO of the size of Hapag-Lloyd," said one Frankfurt-based analyst.
The city of Hamburg, too, is not keen to push for an IPO if a shaky market environment means the shares will straight away lose value and result in a loss on its investment, the source close to the group's owners said.
Hapag Lloyd has no concrete plans for a flotation, a spokesman told Reuters. However, it could quickly start the process given the preparation it already made last year.
"The owners have said it's the route they wish to take, but the decision is up to them," the spokesman said.