Post-merger, can the world's fourth-largest box line defy financial pessimists?

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Mergers can often throw a lifeline to troubled companies that may have little chance of survival on their own – how true is that for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s Compania SudAmericana de Vapores (CSAV), which completed their tie-up this week?

The deal effectively amounts to a takeover of the cash-strapped Chilean line by Hapag-Lloyd, and hinges on massive cost synergies of $300m, equal to 9.3% of CSAV’s 2013 revenue.

The combined entity is expected to become the fourth-largest liner shipping company in ...