The long-awaited merger agreement between China Merchants Group and Sinotrans & CSC Holdings was finalized on April 10, according to a statement released by Sinotrans Shipping Limited.
With the strategic reorganisation, China’s Sinotrans & CSC became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based China Merchants.
The merged corporation is expected to further improve the competitiveness of China’s state enterprises and promote industry consolidation.
Under the merger conditions, the two companies would work on reorganizing their tanker shipping business, as well as other businesses including energy and dry bulk shipping, property development, ports, marine and offshore engineering and logistics.
The merger received the official approval from the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) in December 2015.
In March 2016, the parties were urged to pick up the pace of their merger agreement as Li Jianhong, chairman of China Merchants and the person appointed to lead the merger entity, said that the companies should hasten the process.
At the time, there was no mention of an exact date of the completion of the merger.
World Maritime News Staff