News / CSAV now Hapag-Lloyd's largest shareholder

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Chilean shipping company CSAV has become the largest single shareholder in Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, overtaking Klaus Michael Kuehne’s investment fund.

This month, the Chilean company, which became a large, but minority, shareholder in Hapag-Lloyd following the 2015 takeover of CSAV’s container shipping assets, boosted its stake from 27.8% to 30% after acquiring shares from Qatar Holdings, reducing its stake from 14.5% to 12.3%, according to Alphaliner.

CSAV general manager Oscar Hasbun described the purchase as “a new example of our long-term commitment to Hapag-Lloyd and our confidence in stability that the company has given the shareholders’ pact that we have with Kuehne Maritime and the city of Hamburg.”

The shares cost CSAV around US$330m and was accompanied by the company’s decision to exit the car-carrying ro-ro business, which it said had “historically represented less than 1% of the total assets of CSAV.

“The decision was taken by CSAV in the context to focus all its economics and administration efforts on managing and developing its main business: its stake in the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd,” it said in a statement.

Qatar Holdings became a Hapag-Lloyd shareholder, along with Saudi Arabia’s PIF, when it sold UASC to Hapag-Lloyd in 2017.

The new shareholding structure of Hapag-Lloyd is: CSAV 30%; Kuehne Maritime 29.6%; City of Hamburg 13.9%, Qatar Holdings 12.3%; and PIF 10.2%.

The remaining 4% is publicly traded.