Source Zim
Hapag-Lloyd’s hopes of acquiring Zim appear to be lying in tatters after regulators reportedly terminated a review of the deal, declaring the proposed framework no longer valid, effectively throwing the process back to the starting line.
Israel’s Government Companies Authority (GCA) ended a review of the acquisition proposal structure last night, per CalcalisTech, telling all involved parties that any resubmission would mean the review process beginning from the start.
Perhaps most worrying for Hapag-Lloyd’s hopes of landing its target, is the Israeli regulator confirming that it would not accept any resubmission proposal until it had been approved by the three relevant parties, Zim, Israeli financial institution FIMI, and the German carrier.
Having abandoned its original proposals after sustained Israeli political pushback, Hapag-Lloyd planned to submit was described as a “substantially revised deal” structure, and with the present structure obsolete the GCA was left with no choice but to end its review.
The move by the GCA, which represents the state’s “Golden Share” in Zim, does not mean that it opposes the deal on merits, but by pushing it back to the start line and requiring the relevant boards to approve any resubmission it has created a new hurdle.
This is because Zim was informed any resubmission would need to be made by 6 October, essentially giving Hapag-Lloyd’s board a week to ratify any new proposal put forward or resubmit the original proposal, which has been blocked by the Israeli government.
Should the parties fail to hit the 6 October deadline, the entire review process by all relevant government departments would begin again from scratch, threatening the February 2027 deadline required to close the deal, with the process having so far taken six months.
Requests for comment made by The Loadstar to Hapag-Lloyd, the Israeli government, and Zim have so far fallen on deaf ears, but The Loadstar understands that the buying parties and Zim remain keen to get the deal over the line.
However, questions are now being raised over how long the German carrier is willing to go, and at what point it would decide to walk away from any planned acquisition given the strong opposition that has built up within the Knesset.