Hapag-Lloyd’s part owner, the German travel group TUI, agreed to provide further financial support to the troubled carrier to help it secure a government lifeline for the shipper, Reuters reported Thursday.
On top of the $1.4 billion that Hapag-Lloyd’s owners – TUI and the Albert Ballin investor group – have already agreed to loan it, TUI will convert $1 billion in loans it has already given it into hybrid capital.
TUI has the right to convert half of that amount into Hapag-Lloyd shares from 2011, which "would amount to a maximum of 49.9 percent as a result of a potential exercise of the conversion right," it said in a statement Thursday
Currently TUI holds 43.3 percent of Hapag-Lloyd. The remainder is controlled by the investor group that includes the city of Hamburg and German logistics tycoon Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who owns a 56 percent stake in Kuehne & Nagel of Switzerland.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company, has been hit by the steep downturn in global trade and is expected to post a loss of $900 million this year.
It has asked for $1.8 billion in government loan guarantees that the German parliament’s budget committee approved last Friday.
On top of the $1.4 billion that Hapag-Lloyd’s owners – TUI and the Albert Ballin investor group – have already agreed to loan it, TUI will convert $1 billion in loans it has already given it into hybrid capital.
TUI has the right to convert half of that amount into Hapag-Lloyd shares from 2011, which "would amount to a maximum of 49.9 percent as a result of a potential exercise of the conversion right," it said in a statement Thursday
Currently TUI holds 43.3 percent of Hapag-Lloyd. The remainder is controlled by the investor group that includes the city of Hamburg and German logistics tycoon Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who owns a 56 percent stake in Kuehne & Nagel of Switzerland.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company, has been hit by the steep downturn in global trade and is expected to post a loss of $900 million this year.
It has asked for $1.8 billion in government loan guarantees that the German parliament’s budget committee approved last Friday.