Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd has struck a deal to buy the container liner business of historic compatriot Deutsche Afrika-Linien (DAL).
DAL was formed in 1890 and operates four services from Europe to South Africa and the Indian Ocean.
No price has been revealed for the transaction.
Headquartered in Hamburg, DAL employs more than 150 people in its liner business.
The company, which is part of German shipping group John T Essberger, owns a 6,589-teu container ship and operates a container fleet of around 17,800 owned and leased boxes.
Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a conference call that DAL carries 100,000 teu per year through its well-established network.
“Africa remains an important strategic growth market,” Habben Jansen said. “Particularly for our service offering from and to South Africa, DAL is a valuable addition, allowing us to offer our customers a better network and additional port coverage in this region.”
In March last year, the company strengthened its West Africa business with the acquisition of Rotterdam-based container line NileDutch, with a chartered fleet of 12 ships.
Hapag-Lloyd also bought United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) in 2017.
In January, last year, DAL and Essberger sold a feeder line subsidiary based in Mauritius.
The disposal of United Africa Feeder Line (UAFL) to a Luxembourg-based investor was confirmed to TradeWinds by the German group.
The DAL deal was announced on the day that Hapag-Lloyd revealed net profit for 2021 of $10.8bn, up from $1.1bn in the previous 12 months.
The 253 ships produced fourth-quarter earnings of $4.1bn, up from $463m in 2020, while revenue hit $8.4bn, against $4bn the year before.
The company is forecasting a normalisation of these huge earnings in the second half of 2022, as port congestion eases.
