A syndicate of six banks has agreed to lend $750 million to Hapag-Lloyd AG to be used by the company to buy back a fleet of 29 containerships from its parent, German tourism company TUI AG.
The financing agreement comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this week that TUI would sell Hapag-Lloyd to a Hamburg-based group of investors for 4.45 billion euro ($5.9 billion.)
The vessels to be purchased back from TUI have container loading capacities 2,000 to 7,500 TEUs each, a combined capacity of 118,000 TEUs, and mostly sail under a German flag.
Hapag-Lloyd said it has a fleet of 133 containerships. Information service AXS Alphaliner gave a count of 135 ships, saying 62 were owned and 73 chartered.
The banks Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank (Markets and Investment Banking division) and HSH Nordbank AG are coordinating the syndicate in which DekaBank Girozentrale, Dresdner Bank AG, KfW IPEX Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland are also participating. The financing has a five-year term.
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