Hapag-Lloyd is working with the Israeli government to revise its proposed $4.2 billion cash acquisition of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, seeking to overcome national-security objections that have placed the German shipping group’s planned takeover under intense political pressure.
Hapag-Lloyd said Monday that it had held several rounds of discussions with Israeli officials, including representatives from the economy, finance and defense ministries, to modify structural elements of the proposed transaction.
The revised proposal is expected to be submitted to Israel’s cabinet later this month.
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“We are now developing an improved proposal designed to further strengthen Israel’s maritime security and independence,” Hapag-Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said.
“The revised proposal will secure Israel’s access to key shipping routes, including routes from Asia,” he added.
The proposed acquisition has faced strong opposition in Israel, including from ZIM employees, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and other government officials who say that transferring control of the country’s principal container shipping company to a foreign buyer could expose Israel’s strategic maritime infrastructure to external influence.
The dispute indicates that ZIM is not simply a commercial shipping operator; its vessels and routes provide Israel with access to international supply chains and the movement of essential and sensitive cargo, making ownership and control a national-security issue.
Under the revised structure, Hapag-Lloyd said ZIM would become a fully Israeli-controlled container shipping company owned by Israeli private-equity firm FIMI.
FIMI would separately acquire a business comprising 16 vessels carved out of ZIM and establish a new company called ZIM Israel. The new entity would provide direct global maritime connections for Israel while remaining under Israeli ownership.
The proposed arrangement is intended to separate the broader international shipping business that Hapag-Lloyd wants to acquire from the strategically important maritime assets that Israel wants to retain under domestic control.
Hapag-Lloyd said the parties had also agreed, at the request of Israeli authorities, to strengthen shipping connections between Israel and Asia.
“The agreement will also prevent any foreign interference in the transportation of Israel’s sensitive cargo, representing a significant improvement over the current arrangement,” Habben Jansen said.
The structure would also tighten restrictions on foreign ownership.
Israel currently holds a “golden share” in ZIM, giving the government special rights over the company. Under existing arrangements, as much as 24% of ZIM’s shares can be sold to a single foreign investor without prior notification to the Israeli government.
Hapag-Lloyd has proposed reducing that threshold to 10%, a measure designed to prevent a foreign shareholder from accumulating a potentially significant influence over the company without government scrutiny.
FIMI has separately committed not to list ZIM Israel’s shares for trading outside Israel’s stock market, further reinforcing the domestic-control element of the proposal.
The changes have not eliminated opposition from ZIM employees. Oren Caspi, chairman of the ZIM Workers’ Committee, said he remained opposed to the proposed transaction, arguing that ZIM should not be handed over to “hostile parties.”
The workers’ opposition adds a domestic labor dimension to an already sensitive transaction that requires government approval. For Hapag-Lloyd, winning over the government is of great import because Israel’s golden-share rights give the state significant leverage over changes to ZIM’s ownership and strategic structure.
The German company therefore appears to be pursuing a compromise in which it obtains the commercial scale it wants from the acquisition while allowing Israel to retain direct control over assets and operations considered essential to national security.
However, the proposed acquisition is strategically important for Hapag-Lloyd because it would strengthen the German company’s position among the world’s largest container shipping groups.
ZIM has an established presence across major global shipping routes, including services linking Asia, Europe and other markets. Combining the two companies would expand Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet, customer base and network at a time when container shipping companies are seeking greater scale and resilient routes amid geopolitical disruptions.
But the transaction comes against a highly uncertain backdrop for global shipping.
Conflicts and disruptions around key maritime corridors have forced carriers to reroute vessels, increasing voyage times, fuel consumption and operating costs. Control over reliable shipping connections has consequently become important not only commercially but also strategically. The situation has made the ZIM transaction sensitive for Israel, where maintaining access to international shipping routes is viewed as essential to economic and national security.
Hapag-Lloyd’s willingness to redesign the transaction demonstrates the extent to which geopolitical considerations can influence major shipping deals. Rather than treating ZIM solely as a commercial acquisition, the German company is negotiating around Israel’s requirements for domestic ownership, foreign-investor restrictions and guaranteed access to critical routes.
The revised proposal will now face another test when it is presented to Israel’s cabinet later this month.
However, if approved, the structure could provide Hapag-Lloyd with the expanded global network it seeks while leaving Israel with greater control over strategically sensitive shipping assets. But if the safeguards fail to satisfy Israeli officials or ZIM’s workforce, the transaction could face further delays or renewed opposition, leaving the $4.2 billion deal dependent as much on national-security considerations as on its commercial merits.