The difficult global economic framework continued to adversely affect the business development of Hapag-Lloyd AG in the second quarter of 2009. Due to the high level of operating costs, the shareholders had to take measures to stabilise Hapag-Lloyd AG’s equity and liquidity situation as the year progressed. In this connection, the Presiding Committee of TUI AG’s Supervisory Board approved a set of measures to support Hapag-Lloyd AG on 28 July 2009. A special purpose vehicle formed by some shareholders of Hamburgische Seefahrtsbeteiligung ’Albert Ballin’ GmbH & Co. KG and TUI AG has acquired Hapag-Lloyd AG’s 25.1% share in Containerterminal Altenwerder (CTA) for a purchase price of €315m. TUI AG has contributed a sum of €215m towards financing the purchase. The transaction entails the option for Hapag-Lloyd to repurchase the stake as soon as possible in the light of the economic development and the financial situation. The city of Hamburg as a co-shareholder has guaranteed TUI AG a reflow of €25m as per 31 March 2011 for the amount exceeding its proportional stake.
On top of this aquisition further capital and funding measures including the application for government aid in order to secure the long-term financial situation of the Hapag-Lloyd Group are planned to be carefully reviewed and implemented in the next few weeks.