Hong Kong-based container ship operator Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (OOIL) yesterday dismissed speculation that it was bidding for TUI's Hapag-Lloyd operation, saying a weak market put it off an acquisition potentially costing more than US$6 billion.
German travel and shipping group TUI received at least four offers for its Hapag-Lloyd container shipping business, including from a German consortium and Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, sources told Reuters last week. The world's fifth-largest shipping firm could fetch more than 4 billion euros (S$8.5 billion), analysts and market experts have estimated.
'This is a very good operation. However, given the current market situation . . . the decision was taken that this is not the appropriate time to enter the process,' OOIL chief financial officer Ken Cambie told reporters yesterday.
German travel and shipping group TUI received at least four offers for its Hapag-Lloyd container shipping business, including from a German consortium and Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, sources told Reuters last week. The world's fifth-largest shipping firm could fetch more than 4 billion euros (S$8.5 billion), analysts and market experts have estimated.
'This is a very good operation. However, given the current market situation . . . the decision was taken that this is not the appropriate time to enter the process,' OOIL chief financial officer Ken Cambie told reporters yesterday.