HAPAG-Lloyd is to acquire German container liner business Deutsche Afrika-Linien (DAL), the company announced on Thursday.
DAL operates four liner services between Europe, South Africa and the Indian Ocean. The company is headquartered in Hamburg and has offices in South Africa and has third-party agents in 47 countries.
DAL Owns a 6589-TEU containership and operates a container fleet of about 17,800 boxes (owned and leased), which Hapag-Lloyd will take over as part of the acquisition.
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said Africa is an important strategic growth market.
“Particularly for our service offering from and to South Africa, DAL is a valuable addition allowing us to offer our customers a better network and additional port coverage in this region,” he said.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming the DAL colleagues. With their broad experience and market knowledge, they will significantly support us to further grow in Africa.”
Last year, Hapag-Lloyd had acquired Africa-specialised carrier NileDutch, which increased its presence and service to and from West Africa
Hapag-Lloyd also opened offices in Kenya, Morocco and Senegal in 2021 and the established a quality service centre in Mauritius in 2020.
The completion of the DAL acquisition is subject to the approval of the responsible antitrust authorities.
