Hapag suitors to hand in bids in late May: sources

TUI AG, co-owner of Hapag-Lloyd, has asked Chinese group HNA and Oman's Onyx Investments to make binding bids for a stake in the shipping group by late May, three people close to the process said.

While the suitors are currently conducting due diligence, Hapag is simultaneously preparing a prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) based on first-quarter figures to put pressure on the bidders, one of the sources told Reuters.

But TUI - owner of tour operator TUI Travel - may be cutting it fine with initial plans to take Hapag public before the summer lull because it aims to delay until late May its decision on how to dispose of its holding in Hapag-Lloyd.

"Like so often in these transactions, the deadline for the sale may have to be extended," another source said, adding that especially investors from the Gulf region are known not to rush investment decisions.

"I gauge the likelihood of a Hapag IPO in the second quarter as very low," a third person said, who is helping to organise the transaction.

TUI currently owns 49 per cent of Hapag-Lloyd, but that stake is due to shrink to about 38 per cent in late May as it has agreed to sell about 11 per cent of shares to co-owner Albert Ballin, a consortium of investors.