China Cosco Shipping has sealed a deal to buy Orient Overseas International of Hong Kong for $6.3bn in cash, in the latest wave of M&A in container shipping, as the battered industry navigates its way to sustainable profitability.
The takeover, announced on Sunday, between two members of the Ocean Alliance grouping of container lines, creates a potentially stronger Asian competitor to the P2 Alliance of Denmark’s Maersk Line and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Company, operators of the two largest container fleets.
The HK$78.67 offer is at a 31 per cent premium to Orient Overseas’ closing price on Friday and has already been accepted by the controlling shareholder, CC Tung, whose family owns a 68.7 per cent stake.