Hapag-Lloyd IPO

Overview:

• German freight shipping business Hapag-Lloyd launched its IPO on the Frankfurt and Hamburg stock exchanges to raise money for new ships and containers. 
• The world's fourth largest freight operator sold 13.23 million shares at €20 each, at the low end of the bookbuilding range, giving the business a market capitalisation of €2.4 billion. 
• Hapag-Lloyd's route to going public could not be described as plain sailing.
• The German shipper lowered the price and volume of the share offering twice in the month prior to its issue after the world's largest shipping group, Maersk, made investors weary by downgrading its annual profit outlook by €600 million.  
• Hapag-Lloyd also postponed its original plan to IPO in 2011 due to market volatility. 
• Globally the container shipping industry has suffered since the financial crisis, with profits hit by a conflation of over capacity and reduced demand, meaning rates had to be cut. 
• Berenberg, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs were global coordinators and bookrunners.
• Citigroup, Credit Suisse, HSBC, and UniCredit Bank were also bookrrunners.
• DZ Bank, ING, and MM Warburg & Co were lead managers.
• CSAV and Tui are sharehodlers in Hapag-Lloyd. 

Ben Naylor - Regional editor