Financial News

Hamburg, 17 March 2017

Hapag-Lloyd AG and UASC shift Long-Stop Date under Business Combination Agreement

Final preparations on track for closing during next weeks / Transaction not at risk / Start of THE Alliance not affected

Hapag-Lloyd and UASC have mutually agreed to shift the Long-Stop Date under the Business Combination Agreement (BCA) until 31 May 2017 and have amended the BCA accordingly. The merger companies had originally envisaged to close the transaction by 31 March 2017 but now expect closing to take place in the weeks thereafter. All merger clearances and authority approvals as well as all necessary banking approvals from Hapag-Lloyd AG's side and substantially all banking approvals from UASC's side have been obtained and the merger parties are arranging the final documentation for a closing of the business combination. The final preparations for the closing take more time than expected. The transaction itself is not at any risk.

Irrespective of the actual closing date THE Alliance will start its operation as of 1 April 2017 including all vessels as planned. The first time consolidation of UASC into Hapag-Lloyd will take place as of closing.

About Hapag-Lloyd
With a fleet of 166 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 963,000 TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world's leading liner shipping companies. The Company has around 9,400 employees at 366 sites in 121 countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of 1.6 million TEU - including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers. A total of 128 liner services worldwide ensure fast, reliable connections between all the continents. Hapag-Lloyd is one of the leading operators in the Transatlantic, Latin America and Intra-America trades.