P&O Nedlloyd has announced the acquisition of Blue Star Line's container shipping business and its subsidiaries for about GBP60 million (about HK$757 million).
The acquisition, which is subject to due diligence, is expected to take two months to complete. The deal will be financed from existing resources.
P&O Nedlloyd chief executive Tim Harris said the acquisition would strengthen its position in areas where the carriers overlapped and in others where Blue Star Line would complement P&O Nedlloyd.
It would make substantial cost savings and would further reinforce P&O Nedlloyd's already-strong position in the North-South reefer trades.
Mr Harris was confident Blue Star's business could be readily integrated with P&O Nedlloyd's.
Blue Star has a strong position in the refrigerated-cargo market. It operates from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere, covering Australia and New Zealand, North America, Europe and the Mediterranean, and Central and South America.