HSH Nordbank successful in Latin American M&A

Hamburg/Kiel, August 6, 2008 - HSH Corporate Finance GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of HSH Nordbank, played a successful advisory role in the sale of Colombian air cargo company Tampa Cargo S.A. to the country’s flag carrier, Avianca S.A. HSH Nordbank acted under a mandate from the Dutch Martinair Holland N.V. and several private investors.

“This transaction benefited from effective collaboration between HSH Nordbank’s transportation specialists and investment bankers. The sale of Tampa Cargo exemplifies the enormous cross selling potential which we can exploit through our networked approach,” said Jochen Friedrich, the member of the Management Board of HSH Nordbank AG in charge for the financial markets.

A market share of more than 30 percent makes Tampa Cargo Colombia’s largest air cargo company and an industry leader in Latin America. The company operates more than 20 routes in the Americas. Avianca is the world’s second oldest airline and leads the Colombian passenger transportation market with a share of 50 percent. Avianca considers the acquisition of Tampa Cargo a decisive element in the continued expansion of its air cargo business.

HSH Nordbank AG is a strong regional bank in Northern Europe with total assets of € 204 billion. Some 4,800 of the bank’s employees provide corporate and high net-worth clients around the globe with premium bank products and services. In its core region of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, it is the market leader in the corporate customer segment. HSH Nordbank is an acknowledged partner of the capital markets and international sector specialist. Its main focus is on transportation and real estate. In fact, HSH Nordbank is the world’s largest provider of ship finance and covers the entire value chain in the transportation segment. In the area of real estate, HSH Nordbank is one of the strongest banks in Germany, acting as a provider of services relating to all aspects of real estate.