After much deliberation, the German government has approved the acquisition of a minority stake of less than 25 percent in the operating company HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) by the Chinese company COSCO Shipping Port Limited.
The spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit, has announced that Berlin sticks to its decision Cosco to acquire the 24.9% minority shareholding in the Container Terminal Tollerort.
As decided in the Federal Cabinet in autumn 2022, Cosco may only acquire shares of less than 25 percent in the terminal in the Port of Hamburg.
“The HHLA container terminal in Tollerort is now regarded as an operator of critical infrastructure in accordance with legal requirements. The cabinet decision of October 31, 2022, which limited the sale to less than 25 percent, will not be changed. The partial ban from autumn 2022 thus remains legally valid,” said the German government.
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has welcomed the decision of the German government to approve the 24.9% minority shareholding of the Chinese company COSCO Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL) in the Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT).
This decision will now enable CTT to be expanded into a preferred handling location for HHLA’s long-standing customer COSCO, where freight flows between Asia and Europe will concentrate, HHLA stated yesterday.
“CSPL’s minority shareholding thus secures employment and boosts Hamburg’s national and international importance as a logistics hub as well as Germany’s position as an industrialised nation. China is currently Germany’s and the Port of Hamburg’s largest trading partner: around 30 percent of the goods handled in the Port of Hamburg come from China or go to China. Approximately 1.35 million jobs in Germany depend on the ports. HHLA is aware of its importance when it comes to supplying companies and consumers in Germany and Europe,” it was said in the announcement.
Now the next step is for HHLA and CSPL to finalise the transaction.
