Neptune Orient Lines Taps 11 Banks To Fund $6B Bid For Hapag Lloyd

August 18, 2008 12:07 p.m. EST

Singapore (AHN) - Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. of Singapore has tapped 11 banks to arrange a $6 billion loan for its offer to acquire shipping line Hapag Lloyd from TUI of Germany.

According to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources, NOL hired the services of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Natixis, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., and United Overseas Bank Ltd.

If NOL, Southeast Asia's largest container shipper, wins the bid, it will merge Hapag Lloyd to its subsidiary American President Lines Ltd.

The Hapag-APL merger would create the world's third largest container carrier after A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and Mediterranean Shipping Co., Bloomberg said.

TUI, Europe's largest tourism firm, is selling Hapag-Lloyd due to shareholder pressure earlier this year.

Other bidders include the City of Hamburg, which is backed by Albert Ballin GmbH, and M.M. Warburg & Co. Hamburg submitted a "competitive" offer to keep the German liner under local control.