HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The long-established Hamburg shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has reacted cautiously to the announcement of shipping line MSC's entry into the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA. Hapag-Lloyd takes note of HHLA's announcement of a voluntary public takeover bid by MSC Group, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Wednesday. "We assume that this will not affect our cooperation with HHLA." MSC is the world's largest container shipping company, with Hapag-Lloyd ranking fifth.

MSC and the City of Hamburg had previously announced a strategic partnership in which the city would hold 50.1 percent and MSC 49.9 percent of HHLA in the future. To date, the city holds around 69 percent of HHLA, with private investors accounting for around ten percent and institutional investors 21 percent, according to HHLA. Hapag-Lloyd, in turn, holds 25.1 percent of the HHLA container terminal Hamburg-Altenwerder./klm/DP/ngu