Israeli shipping giant Zim sets sail for a sale

Zim Integrated Shipping Services, Israel’s biggest shipping company, is exploring a sale of its global container network as part of an effort to turn itself into a regional Mediterranean carrier, according to sources.

“Zim is on the market,” one of those people said. “Their bankers are travelling around the world with a sale prospectus, tapping interest from global shipping majors and other investors.”

A second person said Zim’s plan was to split the company into an international part that it wanted to sell, while holding on to a handful of ships for Mediterranean trades.

“The part they want sell is their ships and customer base on the routes they have from Asia to the US, from Asia to the east Mediterranean and from the Mediterranean to the US,” this person said.

Marine data provider VesselsValue values Zim’s entire fleet at around $US267 million.

Read the report from the Wall Street Journal in The Australian.