News / Glickman faces rival bid as Hapag-Lloyd enters Zim takeover battle

Zim chief executive Eli Glickman is reportedly facing competition in his bid to take over the Israeli carrier, with Hapag-Lloyd purportedly having stuck in a bid of its own – and news of the interest prompted a near 5% spike in Zim stocks.

At the time of writing, neither Zim nor Hapag-Lloyd would answer whether there was any veracity to the rumours of the bid, with a spokesperson from the German container giant telling The Loadstar, “we do not comment on market rumours” – a spokesperson for Zim provided a near identical response.

News of Hapag-Lloyd’s interest was first broken by Israeli site Globes, which claimed the bid was in the ‘early stages’, with no concrete negotiations having taken place between the carriers, but it comes less than a fortnight after confirmation of Mr Glickman’s proposal.

Together with Israeli automotive and shipping heavyweight Rami Ungar, Zim’s CEO issued “a preliminary, non-binding proposal to acquire all the outstanding ordinary shares” of Zim not currently under his control.

There have been widespread reports that Mr Glickman’s bid amounted to $20 per share, effectively valuing Zim at $2.4bn, although at the company’s recent third-quarter earnings call, he simply said: “No comment.”

Having confirmed in August it was “aware of the rumours in the market regarding a possible acquisition proposal”, the carrier acknowledged Mr Glickman’s bid on 25 November, noting it had “commenced a strategic review into the potential alternatives”.

It said: “The review includes consideration of potential value creation alternatives, including a sale of the company and capital allocation and return opportunities, with the goal of maximising shareholder value.”

The statement added that Zim had “received indications of interest from multiple parties, including strategic interest, which it is evaluating carefully”, but there was “no assurance that any transaction will occur as a result of this review of alternatives”.

Among names circulating as potential suitors are Maersk and MSC, but Zim remained tight-lipped, saying only thatt it did not “expect to provide updates regarding this review until an agreement is reached or the review is otherwise completed”.

A source from the finance world told The Loadstar: “There’s so much speculation out there for the benefit of short-term traders on Zim, the interest for Zim shareholders is to inflate the price, expect more in the coming days.”

The source said the state of Israel itself had a stake in the carrier, a so-called “Golden Share”, and under its rules “Israeli heritage would be under consideration when it came to approving a sale”.