The Hamburg native is a major shareholder in MSC rival Hapag-Lloyd.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The planned partial sale of the Hamburg port operator HHLA to the major shipping company MSC has met with sharp criticism from Klaus-Michael Kühne, major shareholder in the container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. “This solution is an affront, above all, to Hapag-Lloyd as the largest user and therefore the largest shipping company customer of the Port of Hamburg,” the 86-year-old billionaire told the Handelsblatt on Wednesday.
At the same time, the deal, in which the Hanseatic city is to retain a 50.1 percent share, is half-hearted. “The entrepreneurial management of HHLA continues to lie with the city of Hamburg, according to the motto that the port economy is the same as the state economy,” complained the Hamburg native, who lives in Switzerland. “First access to a minority stake in HHLA should of course have been given to a real Hamburg company like Hapag-Lloyd,” demanded Kühne.
The interests of his Swiss Kühne Holding AG are also known. In several newspaper interviews, Kühne had offered to take over the majority in HHLA with his holding company or the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, in which he has a 30 percent stake.
Kühne had promised half a billion euros as the purchase price, which was apparently not enough for the Hanseatic city, which currently holds 69 percent of HHLA. The now announced deal with Hapag’s rival MSC values the entire Hamburg port operator at 1.2 billion euros.
“I can only strongly advise Hapag-Lloyd to submit a takeover offer for 49.9 percent of HHLA shares immediately,” explained Kühne after the MSC offer was published. “If Hapag-Lloyd would not do it, my Kühne Holding AG would consider doing it in the short term.” Hapag-Lloyd initially left a request for comment unanswered.
FDP criticizes MSC deal in Hamburg
Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD) tried to smooth things over in a press conference in the morning: “This is a partnership that is not directed against anyone,” he said. “We want to continue the partnership with Hapag-Lloyd.”
However, massive criticism also comes from the FDP in the Bundestag: “The mayor is squandering HHLA for nothing and is ruining the future of the port of Hamburg,” said Michael Kruse, the parliamentary group’s port policy reporter. “Years of inaction in port policy have put the mayor under pressure and are now causing him to present a half-baked construction.”
MSC’s participation in HHLA’s parent company makes it impossible to more intensively connect other shipping companies to the location and, of all things, brusquely offends the Hamburg shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. “It is doubtful whether this deal will actually result in a million more containers because other shipping companies are closely analyzing the negative effects of this step on their business,” said Kruse
At the same time, this investment will not even return HHLA to its old value. The port operator started trading on the stock exchange in November 2007 with a valuation of 4.4 billion euros. Before the MSC offer, it was only trading at just 840 million euros; the takeover offer improved the market value to just 1.21 billion euros.
“The only thing that can protect the people of Hamburg is a higher offer from another shipping company,” explained Kruse.
More: Billion dollar deal: MSC wants to join Hamburg port operator HHLA