COSCO 'bidding' for Orient Overseas
Chinese conglomerate Cosco Group is in talks to acquire smaller rival Hong Kong-based rival Orient Overseas Container Line Co. ( OOCL), Chinese media outlet Caixin reported quoting people familiar with the matter.
The state-owned China COSCO will compete with Evergreen Marine Corp. from Taiwan and France’s CMA-CGM SA in the takeover bid, but COSCO was more likely to win the deal, a source from COSCO told Caixin.
A representative at COSCO Shipping's media relations department said the company wasn't aware of the bidding.
However, the shares of OOCL surged the most in five years on Wednesday on the Hong Kong stock exchange following the reports.
OOCL is the ninth-largest shipper in the world in terms of cargo-carrying capacity, which accounted for 2.8% of the entire global industry, according to shipping data provider Alphaliner.
Cosco Shipping s is the world’s fourth biggest carrier with a carrying capacity of some 1.58m teu and accounting for around 7.5% of global market share, behind Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and CMA CGM.