Acquisition of Hanjin Assets
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is expediting the acquisition of assets from Hanjin Shipping. They are focusing on vessels with strong competitiveness among ships owned or borrowed by Hanjin Shipping.
According to the shipping industry on September 25, HMM is receiving consulting from three organizations such as AT Kearney and IBM in the IT, HR and management sectors in order to map out a mid- to long-term plan to raise its competitiveness.
It is said that the consulting will enable HMM to collect assets that can create synergies with HMM among Hanjin Shipping’s ships, human resources and networks. Containerships run by Hanjin Shipping add up to 97 vessels. 37 ships belong to the ailing shipping company while its leased ships number 60.
It is expected that it will be relatively easy to re-lease ships from ship owners according to industry experts. This is because ship owners do not have many choices as a slump in the shipping industry significantly cut demand. HMM is also sounding out financial institutions which offered ship finance to Hanjin Shipping on whether or not HMM will be able to receive their contracts with Hanjin Shipping. When placing a shipbuilding order, a shipping company borrows 80% to 90% of the price of the ship from a financial institution with the ship as collateral.
Experts are paying attention to how many lucrative routes HMM will be able to take from Hanjin Shipping. Hanjin Shipping once enjoyed the second biggest market share of the Asia-Americas service. But global shipping companies are having their eyes on the Asia-Americas service of Hanjin Shipping. So it is not easy to make a prediction about the future.
HMM will finish management consulting by mid-November. The company will announce measures to raise its competitiveness including the expansion of its fleets and routes via the acquisition of assets from Hanjin Shipping. It is expected that new HMM CEO Yoo Chang-keun who will take office on September 29 will concentrate on this matter ahead of others.