Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI add a Far East route to their revised plan for Zim Israel
The $4.2bn price is unchanged; a full business plan and legal framework are due within 45 days
Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI Opportunity Funds submitted the main points of a revised offer for Zim Integrated Shipping Services to the Israeli government on 24 September. Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen flew to Israel for the submission. The price is unchanged at a valuation of $4.2bn, or $35 a share, against a Zim share price of $29.53 in New York.
The Israeli government had signalled it would vote against the deal, which would carve a smaller Zim Israel out of the carrier and sell it to FIMI while Hapag-Lloyd takes the global business. Objections centred on the financial viability of the new company, its limited routes, and Israel's control over a carrier it relies on in wartime. Hapag-Lloyd had been given 30 more days to rework the offer.
The parties describe the new framework as "ten material improvements". The main one is a weekly service to the Far East for Zim Israel, on top of the Mediterranean and transatlantic routes already planned. Zim Israel would own a core fleet and have access to Hapag-Lloyd's global fleet under a long-term commercial agreement, which the partners say will expand capacity for refrigerated and other essential cargo. The number of ships allocated stays at 16, of which the state could requisition 12 in a crisis through its golden share.
The golden share itself is tightened. The stake that could pass to a private foreign investor without notifying the government falls from 24% to 10%. Ship management stays in Israel, Zim's existing management capabilities move to the new company, and Zim Israel is to run its own IT system with no access for third parties, Hapag-Lloyd included. The package commits to more Israeli seafarers, a ten-year safety net for veteran employees, better voluntary retirement terms and no layoffs until the end of 2027. The accompanying business plan projects Zim Israel's revenue rising by $1.7bn over ten years and net operating profit improving by $200m.
"Our joint aim is to set up a strong, financially sound, professional Israeli shipping company that will serve Israel's needs both in normal times and in emergencies," Habben Jansen said. Hapag-Lloyd also pointed out that it has kept a weekly service to Israeli ports since 7 October 2023.
The partners will complete the business plan and full legal documentation within 45 days and have asked to meet the relevant ministries in that period. Closing had been targeted for the end of 2026 but can now run to mid-2027, with Israel in an election period. Zim's workers wrote to the government the same day to restate their opposition.
Habben Jansen also put the cost of the Middle East conflict to Hapag-Lloyd at about $600m, mostly higher oil prices, with the rest from land bridges into the Upper Gulf, insurance and storage of stranded boxes. Five Gemini services, SE2, SE3, SE4, NE4 and IEX, now run through the Red Sea and Suez Canal; most of the network still sails round the Cape of Good Hope.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 27 September 2026.
