China Navigation Company (CNCo) has agreed to acquire Hamburg Sud’s bulk shipping business.
The acquisition includes Hamburg-based Rudolf A. Oetker (RAO); Furness Withy Chartering in London and the bulk activities in Alianca Navegacao (Aliabulk), based in Rio de Janeiro, a statement said Monday.
The sale does not include RAO Tankers, which Hamburg Sud said will remain part of its group “for the time being”.
James Woodrow, managing director of CNCo, said the acquisition would help his company develop its strategic expansion into the supramax and ultramax segment.
Hamburg Sud’s chartered fleet of bulkers comprises approximately 45 vessels, ranging from handysize up to panamax tonnage.
“With this step, Hamburg Sud is focusing as planned on its liner business with its two container shipping brands, Hamburg Sud and Aliança,” Hamburg Sud chief executive Arnt Vespermann said.
Closing of the agreement is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval.
Rainer Horn, Hamburg Sud's spokesman, confirmed to TradeWinds that the company had been looking to sell its dry bulk business for some time.
But he said that there was no time pressure for the sale and that the group had simply been waiting for "a good and suitable new owner".
Hamburg Sud will ultimately sell RAO Tankers too, Horn confirmed, but is in no hurry and hopes to find the right buyer.
CNCo is part of the Swire Group and owns and operates about 135 ships, of which most are bulk carriers and multipurpose liner vessels.
A sale makes sense from the Hamburg Sud side. When Maersk Line took control of its container business from the Oetker family in 2017, it had no interest in the other segments.
Maersk specifically had no desire to be involved in dry bulk, given the Danish group exited the sector many years ago.
For CNCo the move is seen as more of a surprise, with negotiations kept very private.
Swire Bulk has also been looking to expand geographically and this is deemed a good way for the company to do so without needing to start from scratch.
