German shipping behemoth Hapag-Lloyd has submitted a sweetened offer to salvage its $4.2 billion bid for Israel’s Zim freighter service, hoping to overcome objections that the acquisition would leave Israel’s main shipper in foreign hands and could leave the country in dire strategic and national security straits.

The revised offer comes after Defense Minister Israel Katz joined a list of political leaders objecting to the sale to the German shipping line, siding with Defense Ministry officials reviewing the potential acquisition over concerns about transferring Israel’s shipping to a foreign company.

The ministry concluded over the summer that the proposed sale doesn’t safeguard Israel’s national security interests, especially during emergencies. The proposed deal has also faced harsh opposition from Zim’s workers.

In response, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, during a visit to Israel at the end of last week, together with Israeli partner private equity firm FIMI Opportunity Funds, led by Ishay Davidi, presented the government with what they described as an improved proposal “designed to strengthen Israel’s maritime independence, national security and supply chain resilience.”

“Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI have listened carefully to the State of Israel and have developed substantial improvements to the proposal,” said Habben Jansen. “The substantially improved proposal gives Israel materially more maritime independence and addresses all its national security needs, which is critical as we were reminded again over the past three years.”

“I am genuinely convinced that the proposal we are presenting offers real solutions to the issues faced by the Israeli State, boosts Israel’s maritime capabilities, and is a reflection of the longstanding relationship of Israel and Germany,” Habben Jansen remarked.

Hapag-Lloyd’s proposed improvements to the original offer include the addition of a direct Far East maritime route; expanding the........

© The Times of Israel