¡¡¡¡It comes as no surprise to hear news that Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, which owns the world's eighth-biggest container shipping line APL, is going to buy another container line, because NOL has long told the world it was interested in doing so. NOL now has its third opportunity to acquire another since it successfully acquired APL in 1997.

¡¡¡¡NOL always fails to keep its takeover plans secret, although premature disclosure has led them to failure twice before. The last time was in its attempts to buy CP Ships. NOL could not even offer a formal bid by the time Hapag-Lloyd announced they had swallowed CP Ships. Before that time, NOL was keen on P&O Nedlloyd before Maersk Lines (named Maersk-Sealand Line then), a latecomer, outbid NOL to secure the fourth-largest fleet in the world at that time. Regardless of whether these mergers proved positive or not (Maersk Line reported a loss of over USD 500 million in 2006 after acquiring P&O Nedlloyd, and Hapag-Lloyd itself is now to be sold-although not directly because of the takeover of CP Ships), focus on the acquisition activities alone raises doubts about the NOL strategy that has seen it go home empty-handed time and again.
¡¡¡¡It does seem that NOL is set to repeat its failure on acquisition this time. Around a dozen potential buyers, including a group of German businessmen, a global logistics giant, investment banks and other liner carriers, to compete with NOL on Hapag-Lloyd's sale since NOL was found to be holding talks with TUI, Hapag-Lloyd's parent company. Although some of these names might have been raised by TUI as a ploy to drive up a sale price, it's a fact that NOL is facing many hindrances on the road to acquire Hapag-Lloyd. Apart from strong rivals, the biggest trouble is proving to be a strong popular protest from Germany. If NOL takes control of Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg must lose its position as Hapag-Lloyd headquarters, and Germany will lose the nation's greatest shipping line with a history of more than 160 years. Most crucial, it is estimated that thousands of job opportunities will also be lost. Doubtless, the German people would like to keep Hapag-Lloyd as an independent shipping company based in Hamburg. It has been suggested that the parliament in Berlin will expand its legislation on protecting industries it deems key to the national interest from takeover by sovereign wealth funds to stop foreign companies from buying Hapag-Lloyd. NOL is 66% owned by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek.
¡¡¡¡In addition to these problems, the shock resignation of Dr. Thomas Held from the position of NOL president and chief executive (CEO) has cast a shadow over the potential deal. Few people know the real reason for Held's exit after less than two years's erving in NOL, but it must be related to the Hapag-Lloyd deal. One possible fact could be quite different opinions between Held and the board of directors of NOL on strategies to buy Hapag-Lloyd; a pessimistic guess is that NOL might have given up on or lost the bidding. Held is thought to have promised bringing APL, the shipping arm of NOL, into the world's shipping elite through merger and acquisition activities when he was offered the position in 2006. His predecessor David Lim lost out in attempts to purchase P&O Nedlloyd and CP ships.
¡¡¡¡NOL wants to buy a container line, and Hapag-Lloyd is for sale. NOL's competitive advantage is on transpacific routes, while Hapag-Lloyd is more focused on transatlantic and Asia-Europe routes. Hapag-Lloyd is a German shipping line, and Dr. Thomas Held is a German national. Everything sounds so good. The merger between NOL and Hapag-Lloyd is widely considered the perfect merger, as it will likely see strong synergistic benefits for both. And Held is believed to be able to facilitate cross-cultural integration between NOL and Hapag-Lloyd, based on his rich experience in M&A (as CEO he helped Schenker successfully acquire BAX). Dr. Thomas Held seems to be the right person to help NOL get Hapag-Lloyd.
¡¡¡¡But now something seems to have changed. Will NOL win this time or not? Let's keep our eyes on the deal.