Latest News Updates From Nicholas Brautlecht

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest container line, said mergers such as the combination of its three main Japanese rivals provide relief to an ailing industry that has been characterized by overcapacity.

The collapse of Hanjin Shipping Co. will probably spark fresh consolidation among container lines as they attempt to ride out the shock waves buffeting the industry, Hapag-Lloyd AG CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said.

Hapag-Lloyd AG's share price fell the most since its initial public offering in November as a forecast of lower profit and a share-sale plan overshadowed a final deal to join forces with United Arab Shipping Co. to become the world’s fifth-largest container carrier.

Hapag-Lloyd AG approved a plan to acquire all shares of United Arab Shipping Co., paving the way for the second merger in two years to bolster the position of Germany’s biggest container-shipping line in an industry plagued by excess capacity.

Hapag-Lloyd AG, Germany’s top container shipping line, and five Asian carriers will form a new vessel-sharing alliance to take on bigger rivals amid a glut in capacity that’s depressed freight rates.

Hapag-Lloyd is in talks with United Arab Shipping Co. on a possible combination of their container businesses, potentially setting up the German company’s second merger in two years as the maritime-freight industry grapples with a drop in prices.

Hapag-Lloyd, Germany’s biggest shipping line, is seeking to raise $500 million from the sale of new shares this year as it presses ahead with an initial public offering even as the Chinese economic slowdown and a rout in Volkswagen shares sparked turmoil on stock markets.

Daimler AG said it expects demand for trucks and buses in Brazil to plunge as much as 50% this year as the crisis in South America’s largest economy worsens.