JP Morgan: NOL should forget Hapag-Lloyd takeover

JP Morgan: NOL should forget Hapag-Lloyd takeover Thomas Held’s shock resignation after 20 months as chief executive of Singapore’ NOL Group will have little impact on the company’s operations and could signal the end of the widely reported merger with German container line Hapag-Lloyd, according to JPMorgan, an international financial advisor.
   A report by JPMorgan’s Asia Pacific Equity Research division said NOL’s operations will continue to run smoothly as Held’s replacement, Ron Widdows, has already been running the group’s core container shipping activities, which are marketed under the APL banner.
   “Moreover, the organization of NOL is no stranger to turnover in the top post as Ron Widdows will be the fourth Group CEO in the past five years,” JP Morgan said.
   The report added that the resignation of Held could indicate that the NOL’s anticipated move for Hapag-Lloyd may no longer be a certainty due to the growing opposition in Hamburg to a foreign takeover and an increasingly challenging operating environment in the Asia/Europe trade as a result of slowing demand growth and accelerating supply growth.
   While NOL/APL would gain a significant boost to its European volumes buying Hapag-Lloyd, JPMorgan warned that it would have to take on the German companies considerable freight forwarders customer base, something NOL has strategically avoided in order to foster direct relations with end customers. Held, formerly CEO of freight forwarder Schenker, could have helped NOL to maintain and develop relationships with those customers of Hapag-Lloyd, JP Morgan said.
   “We think NOL is better off not to acquire Hapag-Lloyd considering the hostility toward foreign ownership within Hapag-Lloyd and the potential high price that an acquirer may be required to pay. Last but not the least a merger of two top container operators has been a reason for some price wars for the sector in the past,” JPMorgan said. ' Simon Heaney