Hamburg Süd takes steps to acquire CCNI’s container business

German shipping company hopes to complete its planned purchase of the Chilean liner company by end of March.    Hamburg Süd said it has signed an agreement to follow through on its planned acquisition of the container liner activities of Chilean shipping company Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica S.A. (CCNI).
   The deal includes the related general agency functions of Agunsa Agencias Universales S.A, (Agunsa), with headquarters in Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile.
   The takeover of the CCNI/Agunsa, if approved by antitrust authorities, is scheduled to become effective at the end of March 2015.
   The link-up of Hamburg Süd and CCNI follows the acquisition of Chile’s other major container carrier, CSAV, by Hapag-Lloyd.
   Hamburg Süd said it will operate the CCNI container liner business under its brand name in the main trades between the west coast of South America, Asia, Europe and North America, respectively.
   “Merging the experienced workforces of CCNI and Hamburg Süd will help to create an even stronger orga­ni­zation that will provide a first class service to the customers of both companies,” the German liner carrier said.
   CCNI will discontinue its container liner services and will only be using the CCNI name for its remaining car carrier activities. Agunsa will continue representing other shipping lines as an agent and further develop its port and logistics services business in South America.