La Compañía Danesa J. Lauritzen A/S firmó el día de hoy un acuerdo para la compra de Cool Carriers AB, el mayor operador comercial de buques frigoríficos.

La compra que se concretó por un monto de U$D 35.4 millones ( no incluye los buques ) tendrá efecto a partir del 1 de Enero de 2.001 dará origen a la formación del mayor operador mundial de buques frigoríficos y operara bajo el nombre de Lauritzen Cool AB.

A continuacion, reporte de prensa emitido por J. Lauritzen A/S PRESS

RELEASE Dec 11, 2000

Dec 11, 2000

Lauritzen Reefers and Cool Carriers join forces and create the world's leading operator of specialised reefer vessels.

The Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen A/S has today signed an agreement with Leif Hoegh & Co. ASA, the listed Norwegian shipping company for the acquisition of Cool Carriers AB, the world's largest commercial operator of specialised reefer vessels within sea transportation of perishable foodstuffs. The take-over, which does not involve any purchase of vessels, will take effect on 1 January 2001.

Through the merger of the commercial operations of the two companies, the world's leading operator of specialised reefer vessels will be established under the name of Lauritzen Cool AB.

Not only do the two organisations and their geographical coverage complement each other perfectly, but they also hold a strong position within all major reefer markets as well as in year-round, liner, COA and the so-called system trades. The new company, Lauritzen Cool will employ the reefer vessels from both Leif Hoegh and J. Lauritzen.

The acquisition amounts to USD 35.4 million and will be financed through an increase of DKK 215 million of the capital of J. Lauritzen A/S.

Strongest global brand name Through the merger of the two major reefer operators, a solid platform has been created for the further development of the leading brand name within the reefer trades, and Lauritzen Cool can be characterised as

The strongest brand name within the global reefer market.

The largest operator of specialised reefer vessels.

Leading market position in all important reefer markets.

Strong position within year-round, liner, COA and system trades.

Well-positioned within land-based logistics activities in the fruit exporting countries in the form of land transportation, cold stores, port terminals, etc.

Leading position within the utilisation of controlled atmosphere in reefer vessels as well as refrigerated containers, increasing the cargo durability.

Well-established global customer network.

Well-developed pool concepts (the Leonina and Arctic Reefers pools) which will support the business of Lauritzen Cool.

Lauritzen Cool will build on Cool Carriers' considerable engagement within the year-round transportation of bananas, which represents the reefer market's single most important cargo base and Lauritzen Reefers' and Cool Carriers' strong platform within liner and COA trades. These trades connect in the season the main exporting countries such as Chile, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia with the important consumer markets in Europe, North America and the Far East. In order to secure return cargoes, a long-term contract has been concluded with the Leif Hoegh-owned HUAL A/S (Hoegh-Ugland Auto Liners A/S) for shipment of automobiles, which will facilitate the repositioning of reefer vessels to some of the main fruit exporting countries, especially in the Pacific Rim.

In addition to sea transportation, Lauritzen Cool can also offer their customers a number of in-land logistics services and thereby be able to solve a larger part of their overall transportation requirements.

First step towards a consolidation

As a consequence of the current negative development within the reefer market, it is vital that the industry undergoes a comprehensive restructuring in order to ensure a marked improvement of the reefer industry's earnings level.

With the establishment of Lauritzen Cool, the first step towards the long sought-for consolidation of the global reefer market has now been taken and J. Lauritzen has not only strengthened the global employment opportunities of its reefer vessels but also reduced its commercial risks.

Major pool partners have expressed satisfaction with this transaction, which they consider positive.

Lauritzen Cool sees new potentials

The global reefer market is characterised by many tonnage owners and a number of commercial operators. The fragmentation of the reefer market impedes the utilisation of economies of scale, reduction of unit costs and the development of more complex transportation services that can generate increased value for the customers.

The global reefer market has experienced very poor freight rates during the past two to three years. A number of factors have influenced the market negatively such as overcapacity of tonnage, fluctuating freight quantities due to climatic abnormalities, and competition from the container lines.

Despite the difficult market conditions, the preconditions for a recovery in the reefer market are present. The problems with tonnage overcapacity are coming under control. The order books for specialised reefer vessels are historically low and at the beginning of 2001 only few reefer vessels are on order. Scrapping of reefer tonnage, which in 1999 was quite considerable, is this year still below last year's level. A considerable number of vessels are currently laid up and it is expected that some of these will be scrapped.

The net growth of the specialised reefer fleet (pallet-friendly reefer vessels above 250,000 cubic feet) is expected to be about 0% this year, whereas a net decrease of 2-3% is expected in 2001.

A continued economic increase in the most important consumer areas for imported perishable foods (Europe and the US) and a revived economic growth in the Far East and in Russia are expected to increase consumption and thereby the demand for sea transportation in the coming years. An average annual growth in the global cargo basis of 3 to 5% is predicted.

As a consequence of the general market growth, its overall market position and the further development of its land-based activities, Lauritzen Cool expects to be able to expand its cargo base.

Considerable tonnage capacity and versatile pools With a combined fleet of about 90 modern and highly-efficient reefer vessels, Lauritzen Cool will represent a strong player in the global reefer market with a carrying capacity of about 52 million cubic feet below deck and considerably additional on-deck capacity for refrigerated containers.

The commercial and operational organisation will be centred around two pools, the Leonina pool and the Arctic Reefers pool. Throughout a number of years, Cool Carriers has established the well-reputable Leonina pool which represents the market's most modern and versatile reefer vessels. These vessels will be assigned to the more complex transportation tasks which include various land-based logistics services. With the establishment of Lauritzen Cool, the Leonina pool will control some 65 vessels.

Lauritzen Cool will also continue the Arctic Reefers pool launched by Cool Carriers in the beginning of 1999. This pool employs some 25 conventional, pallet-friendly reefer vessels.

Lauritzen Reefers present pool systems will be integrated into above-mentioned two pools.

Competition from container liners

Within recent years, container liners have gained a considerable part of the global market for sea transportation of perishable commodities. By far the largest part of the container liners' transportation of reefer cargoes includes frozen products (especially meat and fish) that are mainly transported on the large east-west-eastbound container routes.

However, the container liners have penetrated, only to a limited extent, the traditional south-northbound reefer trades where the specialised reefer vessels still transport by far the largest amount of reefer cargoes.

It is expected that the east-west-eastbound reefer and frozen cargoes will continue to grow more than the south-northbound ones in the years to come.

Synergies

It is anticipated that the merger will result in considerable synergies conservatively estimated at USD 15 million on an annual basis. The synergies will be effected during the course of 2001 and include not only better utilisation of tonnage thanks to more optimised trading patterns, but also more efficient administrative procedures. The synergies will help improve the earnings potential of Lauritzen Cool but also for the shipowners with reefer tonnage employed in the Leonina and Arctic Reefers pools.

Organisation and management

Lauritzen Cool will have its headquarters in Stockholm, but will operate globally through a number of overseas offices.

Mr Torben Janholt, president and CEO of J. Lauritzen A/S will chair the Board of Lauritzen Cool AB, and Mrs Birgit Aagaard-Svendsen, executive vice president and CFO of J. Lauritzen A/S will take on the position as vice-chairman.

Mr Mats Jansson, president of Cool Carriers AB will become president of Lauritzen Cool AB, whereas Mr Henrik Madsen (present senior vice president of Lauritzen Reefers A/S) and Mr Lars Rutberg (present senior vice president of Cool Carriers AB) both will be appointed executive vice presidents of the new company. Mr Birger Lindberg Skov, president of Lauritzen Reefers A/S will head Lauritzen Cool's overall global logistics activities.

Arctic Reefers will be located in and operated from Copenhagen.

The two organisations will be merged during the first six months of 2001, and simultaneously the present overseas offices and logistics activities of the said companies will be reorganised.

Following the merger, the technical management of the Lauritzen reefer vessels will still be handled from Copenhagen.

Prospects

For several years, the activities of Cool Carriers have contributed to a positive net result in Leif Hoegh. The turnover amounted to USD 134 million for the first half-year of 2000, showing a net result of USD 3.6 million.

Similarly, the operating activities of Lauritzen Reefers have contributed positively to the income of J. Lauritzen, whereas the shipowning activities have shown a loss.

The total turnover of Lauritzen Cool is expected to amount to approx. USD 430 million for 2001. At the time of take-over, the balance sum is expected to amount to USD 43 million showing an equity of USD 15.5 million.

Copenhagen, 11 December 2000

Torben Janholt President