DLA Piper advises The China Navigation Company on acquisition of the bulk shipping activities of Hamburg Süd

Source: DLA Piper

DLA Piper has advised The China Navigation Company, a subsidiary of the Swire Group, on its agreement with Hamburg Süd to acquire their bulk shipping business which includes Rudolf A. Oetker (RAO), Furness Withy Chartering and the bulk activities in Alianca Navegacão (Aliabulk).

Closing of the agreement is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval. The RAO Tankers business unit is not included in the sale and will remain part of the Hamburg Süd Group for the time being.

The bulk shipping business in Hamburg Süd operates from Hamburg, London, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro with a chartered fleet of approximately 45 vessels in the segments: Handysize, Supra/Ultramax and Kamsarmax/Panamax. Whereas liner shipping activities in Hamburg Süd involves transporting cargo in containers, bulk shipping involves flexibly transporting dry goods – such as agricultural raw materials, ore and steel – in bulk carriers from port to port worldwide, depending on the customer’s requirements.

The China Navigation Company, founded in 1872 in Shanghai, is the wholly owned, deep-sea ship owning and operating arm of the multinational Swire Group. The company operates a global network of multipurpose liner services, dry bulk and bulk logistics services through its three business divisions – Swire Shipping, Swire Bulk and Swire Bulk Logistics.

The DLA Piper team in Germany was led by partner Dr Benjamin Parameswaran and counsel Dr Isaschar Nicolaysen. They were assisted by associate Diedrich Schröder (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), partner Dr Konrad Rohde (Tax, Frankfurt), counsel Dr Henriette Norda (Employment, Hamburg), Sebastian Kost (Tax, Munich) and Semin O, senior associate Liane Bednarz (Corporate, Hamburg) as well as associates David Klock, Christian Georg (all Antitrust, Frankfurt) and Georg Haberkorn (Employment, Munich).

The team also comprised lawyers from the firm’s offices in Australia, United Kingdom and Brazil. Key team members included: partners Jon Kenworthy and Martin Nelson-Jones (both Corporate), Linos Choo, Leon Taylor (both Litigation & Regulatory), senior associates Sarah Riley and Liam Freeman, associate Melissa Wilkinson (all Corporate), associate Helen Vickers (Litigation & Regulatory), legal director Joel Eytle, associate Beth Casinelli (both Employment, all London), partner Clare Gregory, legal director Beverly Ensor (both Employment) and associate Robert Spencer (Real Estate, all Sheffield), partners Tim Lyons (IPT, Melbourne) and Richard Edwards, senior associate Lori Lim (both Litigation & Regulatory), special counsel Hedley Roost, solicitor Kirsty Hall (both Corporate). partner Leanne Nickels, solicitor David Kiel (both Employment,all Perth).

From cooperation law firm Campos Mello Advogados (Rio de Janeiro), the team comprised partner Fabiano Gallo and associates Rafaella Chiachio, Flavia Cerutti (all Corporate) and Barbara Bittencourt (Oil & Gas).

Link: https://www.dlapiper.com/en/germany/news/2019/01/dla-piper-advises-the-china-navigation-company/