UASC Eyeing Chemical Tanker Unit Sale as Part of Hapag-Lloyd Deal

By Dinesh Nair and Nicholas Brautlecht

(Bloomberg) — United Arab Shipping Co. is weighing a sale of its tanker enterprise for oil and petrochemicals that would fetch greater than $600 million as a part of its plans to merge with German container transport line Hapag-Lloyd AG, folks aware of the matter stated.

The Dubai-based transport firm is working with Bank of America Corp. to search out patrons for its holding in United Arab Chemical Carriers Ltd., or UACC, the folks stated, asking to not be named as a result of the deliberations are non-public. The firm held 95 % of UACC in line with the chemical transport agency’s 2012 monetary report, the latest one obtainable on the corporate’s web site. No closing selections concerning the sale have been made, the folks stated.

Hapag-Lloyd’s supervisory board and UASC shareholders authorised a plan final month to accumulate all of the shares of UASC. The Hamburg-based firm, Germany’s largest container-shipping line, has stated that it’s fascinated about UASC’s container-shipping actions, making a sale of the opposite, chemical-tanker enterprise the subsequent logical step within the takeover. UASC may contemplate a sale of its air cargo enterprise as a part of the Hapag-Lloyd deal, the folks stated.

UACC, based in 2007, is a mid-sized operator with a fleet of two dozen tankers. While container and bulk service markets have been stricken by oversupply and depressed freight charges lately, the tanker market has carried out higher as vessels are used to retailer low-cost oil.

Representatives from Hapag-Lloyd and Bank of America declined to remark. A spokesman for UASC didn’t instantly return a name and e-mail searching for remark.

Combined, Hapag-Lloyd and UASC would rank fifth in an business dominated by Danish transport big A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S. The deal would additionally give Hapag-Lloyd speedy entry to among the largest container ships obtainable. UASC operates six vessels with a capability of 18,800 normal 20-foot containers, a dimension the German service lacks.

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