EU: Commission approves acquisition of Hamburg Süd by Maersk Line

The European Commission has cleared proposed acquisition of container liner shipping company Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft KG (HSDG) of Germany by Maersk Line A/S of Denmark, subject to conditions.

Both Maersk Line and HSDG are active worldwide in container liner shipping. The clearance is conditional upon the withdrawal of HSDG from five consortia on trade routes connecting:
(i) Northern Europe and Central America/Caribbean,
(ii) Northern Europe and West Coast South America,
(iii) Northern Europe and Middle East,
(iv) the Mediterranean and West Coast South America and
(v) the Mediterranean and East Coast South America.
On these routes, the merged entity would have faced insufficient competition after the transaction.

In order to address the Commission’s competition concerns, Maersk offered to terminate the participation of HSDG in the five consortia. This will entirely remove the problematic links between Maersk Line and HSDG’s consortia that would have been created by the transaction.

HSDG will continue to operate as part of the five consortia during the notice period to guarantee an orderly exit. However, a monitoring trustee will ensure that no anti-competitive information is shared between these five consortia and the merged entity during that notice period.

In view of the proposed remedies, the Commission has concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified, would no longer raise competition concerns. The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments.

Full Content: Europa Press

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