Linklaters advises Chilean Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV), one of the largest shipping companies in Latin America, on the intended combination of its container business with Hapag-Lloyd AG. The two companies have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding. As the next step, the due diligence will take place.

CSAV generated approximately U.S.$3.4 billion in sales in the 2012 financial year with more than 5,000 employees and a fleet of 54 container ships. The stock exchange listed shipping company is headquartered in Valparaíso and Santiago de Chile. CSAV was founded in 1872 by the merger of Compañía Chilena de Vapores and Compañía Nacional de Vapores. The company is controlled by the Luksic family, which holds about 46 per cent through its holding Quiñenco. The remaining shares are held by two investor companies.

Hapag-Lloyd AG was founded in 1970 by the merger of Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft and North German Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd AG’s current owners include the City of Hamburg, logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne and TUI AG. The company generates approximately €7 billion in sales and employs about 7,000 employees.

A Linklaters team led by Wolfgang Sturm (Corporate, Düsseldorf) advises on the transaction. The team also includes Oliver Rosenberg (Tax, Düsseldorf), Dr Carsten Grave (Competition/Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Gordon Warnke (Tax, New York), Olga Petrovic (Banking, London), Michael Bassett (Banking, New York), Dr Ingo Klauß (Competition/Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Kirsten Placke (Tax, Düsseldorf), Thorsten Henze, Rebecca Ridder, Karin Hribar (Corporate, Düsseldorf), Christoph Barth (Competition/Antitrust, Düsseldorf).