COSCO Confirms Merger Approval, Unveils Details

COSCO Chinas State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has given its in-principle approval for the proposed merger of the countrys shipping giants, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company and China Shipping (Group) Company, COSCO confirmed in a release. COSCO said that the present stage of the reorganisation would involve mainly the container shipping, ship leasing, tanker shipping, bulk shipping, financial businesses and other sectors carried out by certain other companies within the COSCO Group.  However, the merger would not involve the company’s business segments for the time being. Financial details of the merger have not been disclosed, however; according to the Wall Street Journal, the merger of a wider-scope of all assets could reach the value of up to USD 80 billion. COSCO Group said it would further optimise the allocation of resources according to future development strategies and will continue to support the business development of its various listed companies. Following the announcement, COSCO said that its Board has decided to resume trading on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited as soon as practicable. Both state companies and their subsidiaries suspended trading in August having announced plans on major restructuring. COSCO said its shares will be requested to resume trading with effect from Monday, 14 December 2015 at 9.00 a.m.