Hapag-Lloyd Rings the Stock Exchange Bell

The shares of the German container line Hapag-Lloyd AG have today started trading on the Frankfurt and Hamburg Stock Exchanges.

Hapag-Lloyd says it expects the initial public offering (IPO) to bring USD 300 million which the company will use for investments in new container ships and containers.

“We are satisfied with the interest of investors and the demand for our shares,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of Hapag-Lloyd.

“Despite a challenging market environment we successfully have been able to complete this important step.”

Last week, the German carrier cut its IPO price range from the initially set EUR 23-29 per share, to EUR 20-22 per share due to ongoing market volatility. The shares are currently trading at around EUR 20.

The company also adjusted the offer structure of the IPO. The original offering consisted of a total of up to 15,721,035 shares of Hapag-Lloyd, including an offering of up to 11,503,197 new shares from a capital increase.

Under the adjusted offer structure, the number of shares from the capital increase has been increased to up to 13,228,677 shares that Hapag-Lloyd will sell based on the offer price, and will be such number of shares as is necessary to still provide the company with gross proceeds of approximately USD 300 million.

Up to 1,984,301 further shares from the holdings of TUI-Hapag Beteiligungs GmbH, which holds a 13.9% share in the company, are offered to cover potential over allotments. The new offer structure does not provide TUI with an additional shares placement option. TUI initially planned to sell up to 4.2 million of its existing shares in the company.

The adjusted offering now consists of a total of up to 15,212,978 shares of the company. The new total offering size, including primary proceeds for Hapag-Lloyd and potential over allotments, can amount up to approximately USD 345 million.

This would imply a free float of up to 18 per cent across the price range, including existing Hapag-Lloyd shareholders with an ownership of below 5 per cent.

The company’s core shareholders – Kühne Maritime (20.8%) and Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores, or CSAV (34%) – have reiterated their cornerstone orders of USD 30 million each.