Hamburg backs MSC offer to pick up Hamburg port shares:Hamburg port operator HamburgerHafen und Logistik ’s (HHLA) board is recommending that shareholders accept an offer by container shipping firm Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to acquire 49.9% of HHLA shares, according to a joint statement. The company considers the offer price of EUR 16.75 per Class A share to be adequate, the statement said. Upon the approval of the Hamburg Parliament, MSC will provide equity of EUR 450 mn to HHLA for investments in business operations over the next few years, according to the statement. MSC and the city of Hamburg — which will retain a 50.1% stake in the port — will also pour in some investments of EUR 775 mn in 2025-2028, the statement added. The offer will run till 20 November 2023.

Background: In October, MSC made a EUR 1.3 bid to acquire almost half of the Hamburg port operator.

The Logistics Group has launched a project in Saldanha Port, South Africa to boost manganese exports, Bloomberg reports. The project involves the transportation of manganese along an 861 km rail line — one of the world’s longest trains — in South Africa that runs from mines in Sishen to Saldanha Port. The Logistics Group has established a dry bulk terminal at Saldanha Port with a warehouse that can accept the volumes of manganese, of which South Africa has an estimated 80% of global reserves.This comes after years of corruption, mismanagement and capacity shortages by state-owned port and rail operator Transnet had led to a decline in the trading of the key battery metal.

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