Zim’s $3.5 billion sale to Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI sets off labor and political storm
Employees seek guarantees while critics say the $3.5 billion deal weakens Israeli control over maritime supply.
The Zim workers' union will meet on Sunday with the company's management, after Calcalist revealed that the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd and the FIMI fund won a tender to acquire Zim for more than $3.5 billion. As part of the deal, the two will purchase 100% of Zim's shares, which will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The committee is demanding that the jobs of the company's 1,000 employees in Israel be secured and, above all, that they receive a grant worth tens of millions of dollars as part of the deal. "We are considering what actions to take. Zim promised us that we would not wake up in the morning and hear about the deal from the newspaper," said committee chairman Oren Caspi.
Caspi led a fight last month against the sale of the company to foreign entities, arguing that the state must preserve Zim as an Israeli company capable of securing Israel's maritime supply lines in times of war. Zim imported wheat, ammunition, and fuel to Israel during the Swords of Iron war, when foreign shipping companies avoided sailing to the country. Zim employees are expected to work primarily under a new company that the FIMI fund will establish, which will hold the Israeli operations as part of the deal. Hapag-Lloyd is expected to take over the international routes, mainly from Asia to the United States, as well as the chartered vessels, while FIMI will take ownership of the ships.
Meanwhile, Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav is calling on the government to halt the deal. Zim's headquarters are located in the Port of Haifa, the company's home city, where the largest number of its employees are based. According to Yahav: "The shipping company Zim, headquartered in Haifa, is no longer part of the Israeli economy. This is a company of strategic importance to the economy and national security of the State of Israel, employing thousands of workers, many of whom live in Haifa. Transferring ownership to foreign hands, even if an Israeli investment fund is involved, is problematic to say the least. It harms national security and could lead to the dismissal of thousands of workers. I call on the Israeli government to stop this move and prevent the sale. It is inconceivable that the State of Israel would not have a shipping company under Israeli ownership, it is part of its economic and security foundation."
