Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 16, 2026
3 min readLast updated: February 16, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHapag-Lloyd is negotiating to acquire ZIM Integrated Shipping, aiming to expand its market share to nearly 9% and solidify its position in the shipping industry.
By Ludwig Burger and Steven Scheer
FRANKFURT/TEL AVIV, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday it would buy Israel's ZIM Integrated Shipping Services for $4.2 billion in cash to secure its position as the world's fifth-largest shipping group.
Frankfurt-listed ZIM's shares leapt 28.8% following Hapag-Lloyd's confirmation of the deal, which came a day after the German company said it was in advanced talks to acquire ZIM.
Hapag-Lloyd's shares fell by 8% on news of the ZIM deal, which it said would be funded through its cash reserves and external financing of up to $2.5 billion.
"The merger would secure Hapag-Lloyd's market position as the fifth-largest shipping line in the world with a modern fleet of over 400 vessels," the company said in a statement.
ZIM says on its website it has operations in more than 90 countries serving 300 ports worldwide.
In a related deal, Israeli private equity fund FIMI will acquire a business with 16 vessels carved out from ZIM that secures direct global maritime connections for Israel.
FIMI and Hapag-Lloyd did not disclose the financial terms of this nested deal, under which a "golden share", which gives Israel special ownership rights in ZIM, will be transferred to FIMI's dedicated Israeli container line, to be called "New ZIM".
The price struck with Hapag-Lloyd represents a 126% premium over its unaffected stock price on August 8, before initial reports of takeover interest, ZIM said.
ZIM MANAGERS IN TALKS WITH UNION OVER STRIKE
ZIM staff called a strike at its headquarters in Haifa on Sunday over the deal, ZIM told Reuters, adding that management was in talks with their union to avert any negative impact.
JPMorgan analysts said the deal would allow Hapag-Lloyd to increase its global market share from 7% to just under 9% without having to boost investment in a drawn-out process.
ZIM, valued at almost $2.7 billion as of Friday's close, said in November it had been reviewing its strategic options for several months after receiving a non-binding takeover proposal.
"This can be considered as a play to gain extra capacity near term (in lieu of fleet capex) ... Delivery slots at shipyards are not readily available near term," JPMorgan said.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Steven Scheer in Tel Aviv; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Matthias Williams; Editing by Susan Fenton, Bernadette Baum and Alexander Smith)
An acquisition is a corporate action in which one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control of that company.
Market share is the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product, often expressed as a percentage of total sales in the market.
A bidding process is a competitive method where multiple parties submit proposals to win a contract or purchase an asset, often involving price and terms negotiations.
A binding agreement is a legal contract that obligates the parties involved to adhere to its terms and conditions, enforceable by law.
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