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Maersk takes stake in Hoegh
Autoliners
Höegh Autoliners also
acquires A. P. Moller - Maersk’s fleet of 18 car carriers ...
Höegh Autoliners and A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S has announced their
agreement for A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S to become a shareholder in Höegh
Autoliners holding 37.5 per cent of the shares effective from 1
January 2008. Leif Höegh & Co Limited will retain the position as
majority shareholder in Höegh Autoliners.
At the same time Höegh Autoliners acquires A. P. Moller - Maersk’s
fleet of 18 car carriers (including six newbuildings). Höegh
Autoliners will commercially operate the combined fleet of about 67
vessels globally from its offices in Oslo and about 30 locations
world-wide under the Höegh Autoliners brand. Vessels already ordered
by the Company will grow its carrying capacity by 45 per cent to 85
ships in 2012. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place in
March 2008 once any applicable regulatory approvals have been
received.
In doing this transaction, the parties build on their existing tonnage
cooperation. The two parties entered a tonnage co-operation agreement
effective from 1 February 2007 whereby A. P. Moller - Maersk entered
its fleet of 12 car carriers into a commercial operation controlled by
Höegh Autoliners. This has worked to both parties satisfaction adding
valuable capacity to Höegh Autoliners’ operation in a period when
customers’ transportation requirements are growing.
With A.P. Moller - Maersk as a shareholder, Höegh Autoliners will
strengthen its financial and strategic position for further growth and
its ability to provide increased capacity and enhanced services to
meet customers’ requirements. A. P. Moller - Maersk is well recognized
as a world leading company within shipping, logistics, port operations
and port to port efficiency.
“We welcome A.P. Moller - Maersk as shareholder in Höegh Autoliners,”
says Westye Høegh, Chairman of the Board. “When my father, Leif Høegh,
ordered his first vessel, M/T Varg from Odense Staalskibsværft in
1927, Mr. A.P. Møller took a stake in the vessel. That was the start
of a prosperous voyage, and having A.P. Moller - Maersk on board again
makes a strong company even stronger and well positioned for exciting
developments in challenging waters ahead.”
“Through the shareholding in Höegh Autoliners we are looking forward
to moving from being a tonnage provider in the car carrier market to
participating directly in a world class car carrier liner operation.
We find the outlook for the industry attractive as car manufacturing
increasingly takes place in Asia and as new markets in India and China
develop. We believe in Höegh Autoliners’ strategy and believe we can
contribute positively to the cooperation based on our Group’s
capabilities within liner shipping and logistics” says Søren Skou,
Partner & Member of Group Executive Board of A. P. Moller - Maersk.
“With A.P. Moller - Maersk as a partner we have secured a platform for
continued growth and enhanced our position for further strengthening
our services,” says Thor Jørgen Guttormsen, CEO of Höegh Autoliners.
“This improves our ability to meet our customers’ current and future
requirements for services and transportation volume and strengthens
our strategic implementation capacity.”
Growth strategy is enhanced
Höegh Autoliners’ strategy is to grow with its global customers
offering worldwide transportation services based on the core
competencies as a port to port transportation provider and to be a
network partner providing these services in a network of dedicated
logistics suppliers.
Strong customer growth is motivating expansion and new ways of
thinking
The world production of factory new cars has grown steadily to about
65 million units in 2007. World car production is expected to continue
growing to about 90 million units in 2015 representing an annual
growth rate of 3-4%. Historically about 15% of the production volume
is exported overseas.
The globalisation of the car manufacturing industry has brought about
changes in the global production patterns which are affecting seaborne
transportation positively resulting in additional demand for
transportation services.
On this background Höegh Autoliners expects continued growth in the
market for Ro/Ro car carriers and experiences that customers consider
future transportation capacity to be of high strategic importance.
The current market situation is characterized by capacity squeeze.
Höegh Autoliners
Höegh Autoliners started its Ro/Ro car carrier operation in 1969 and
deploys some 67 vessels in its global trade systems which are managed
from a worldwide network of 30 offices. The fleet consists of owned
and chartered vessels. Main customers are major manufacturers of new
cars, heavy machinery and rolling goods and Höegh Autoliners carried
about 1.9 million car equivalent units (CEU) in 2007.
Höegh Autoliners is in the middle of a fleet expansion programme and
16 more newbuildings already ordered (including 6 from A.P. Moller -
Maersk) already ordered will be delivered from 2008 to 2011. See:
http://www.hoeghautoliners.com
A.P. Moller - Maersk
A.P. Moller - Maersk is an international company of Danish origin
widely recognized for its activities within shipping, energy,
offshore, retail and industry. The A.P. Moller - Maersk Group has more
than 110,000 employees and offices in around 130 countries.
See: http://www.maersk.com
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