Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Paul Hastings are having the lead roles on a deal that will see the Chinese government restructures assets in two state-owned container-shipping giants: China Shipping (Group) Co. and China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., or COSCO Group.
The restructuring was approved on Dec. 11 by the Chinese State Council, following months of merger speculation. If combined, China Shipping and COSCO will create world’s fourth biggest container-shipping company, according to the Wall Street Journal, following Copenhagen-based A.P. Moller–Maersk Group, Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. and Marseille-based CMA CGM S.A.
