Oman’s state-owned Onyx Investments has reportedly taken a 15% stake in German Tui AG-owned container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd for an undisclosed sum.
A financial source close to the negotiations told Reuters that Tui AG, which owns almost half of Hapag-Lloyd, was also in talks to sell a stake to HNA, China’s fourth-largest airline group.
Tui owns almost half of Hapag-Lloyd – with the remainder held by the Albert Ballin consortium – and had considered floating part of its stake in the company, which reports have valued at $4.3-$5.0 billion.
But the group’s owners delayed a decision on whether the company should float last month, after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster and political unrest in the Arab world rocked markets.
Analysts expected the travel company to buy the shares it does not own in the London-listed Tui Travel plc with the proceeds.