Lessors steeling for some tricky decisions

It has emerged that Textainer is in talks to acquire Seaco Global, a deal that would almost certainly raise issues about the level of market concentration in the container leasing industry.

The decline in revenue and average selling price was attributed to a slump in demand for dry freight containers in the wake of overproduction in 2021.

Textainer is the latest leasing company to have a new ownership structure following the decision of its management to sell the company to Stonepeak, an alternative investment firm based in New York, in a deal worth US$7.4B.

A sharp fall in orders for new containers has taken its toll on container manufacturers with H1 2023 revenues and profits at China International Marine Containers (CIMC), Dong Fang International Containers (DFIC) and Singamas well down on the corresponding period of 2022.

Singamas expects its H1 2023 profit to fall by approximately 74% year-on-year.

Box builder wants to use its healthy financial position to “actively seek new M&A opportunities” as it looks to further diversify into “non-shipping related containers.”