Reports in the past twenty four hours that Hapag-Lloyd has hired investment banks to advise on an initial public offering and the Singapore government is selling its majority stake in Neptune Orient Lines have refuelled speculation of a merger between the two ocean carriers.
The timing of the – as yet unconfirmed – reports is coincidental, but the fact the two companies share a history going back to 2008 has got the industry talking again about a possible tie-up between the two lines. At that time, a financially crippled Hapag-Lloyd, fearing the loss of its German identity, rebuffed a 3.5 billion euro ($3.9 billion) takeover bid by NOL