The merger of Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL) and COSCO Shipping Holdings offers can effectively combine the respective strengths of both and optimize our global network, thereby achieving greater economies of scale and synergies, incoming Chairman of OOIL, Captain Xu Lirong, said commenting on the deal.
This transaction is a common choice for both sides to follow the development trend of container shipping industry and realize sustainable development, he added.
"I would like to extend a warm welcome to OOIL for joining COSCO SHIPPING and express my heartfelt gratitude and great respect to Tung Chee Chen for his leadership and significant contributions to the impressive results achieved by OOIL over the past years. In the face of intensifying market competition, mergers and acquisitions in the global container industry have gathered momentum in recent years," Xu said.
The merger will not only enable both companies to enhance the overall profitability and promote the sustainable development, but will also allow them to offer customers more product choices. They can thus experience better services.
Captain Xu further noted the value that OOIL will bring to the wider China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation group, and that every effort will be made to preserve and increase this “We have made “six undertakings to preserve the integrity of OOIL”. It is an important decision which reflects our full confidence in the management of OOIL and the quality of its employees.”
Meanwhile, outgoing Chairman of OOIL, Tung Chee Chen said: “In a rapidly consolidating industry, I believe that this transaction offers tremendous opportunities both to OOIL and to the wider COSCO group."
He added: "Together with greater scale and with increased financial resources, we will be able to combine the complementary strengths of our two liner businesses and COSCO’s terminal business, and thereby to create an industry leader, providing the widest of networks and the best of service to our customers, using ambitious growth targets and meaningful synergy benefits to create value for our shareholders, enhancing our business through information technology, and offering challenging and exciting careers to our employees.”