Hamburg Süd's business model and commercial structure will be untouched after the acquisition by Maersk Line, expected to take place in Q4 of 2017 subject to regulatory approvals.
An announcement by Oetker Group and Maersk Line revealed that the five customer facing regions of Hamburg Süd will remain “unchanged” after the US$4 billion deal is closed.
Until then, Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd will establish a joint team to ensure that business operations will continue seamlessly.
It will be headed by Lars Mikael Jensen from Maersk Line and Michael Triskatis from Hamburg Süd.
Other changes in the executive structure of the two companies will also take place once the deal closes.
Ottmar Gast will retire as Chairman of Maersk Line's Executive Board to become the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hamburg Süd.
Søren Toft, Chief Operating Officer of Maersk Line A/S, will become member of the Supervisory Board of Hamburg Süd.
Arnt Vespermann will become the new Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd and will also be in charge of Compliance, Corporate Communication and of Columbus Ship Management.
Frank Smet will continue as member of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd with responsibilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Order Management and all Hamburg Süd parts of Operations, including Network and Logistics.
Jakob Wegge-Larsen, currently CFO of Maersk Line Operations, will join the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd to assume the responsibility of Finance & Accounting, Controlling and Information Technology & Services.
Until then, business will continue as usual and Hamburg Süd will operate independently from Maersk Line as required by competition laws.
Søren Skou, Chief Executive Officer of Maersk Line, said: “We have strong confidence in the Hamburg Süd Management Board and like to thank Ottmar Gast for his continued and valuable involvement after Closing.
“We also look forward to welcoming all our future colleagues into the Maersk family and together build an even stronger company.”
