Hyundai Merchant Marine sold its chassis fleet operations in North America to Direct ChassisLink. Private equity giant Littlejohn & Co.'s portfolio includes Direct ChassisLink. The financial terms of the exit were not disclosed. Hyundai Merchant Marine, an ocean carrier, has its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea and Dallas, Texas.

Direct ChassisLink will acquire a total of 23,000 strategically located, operating chassis in the United States. This is an indicator of the rapidly evolving management systems of the chassis industry in North America.

Both Hyundai Marine and Direct ChassisLink said that aside from the buyout, Hyundai Merchant agreed to be Direct ChassisLink's client, exclusively providing chassis to Hyundai Merchant.

Direct ChassisLink's chief executive officer Bill Shea commented on the new agreement, "We are excited that Hyundai Merchant Marine chose DCLI as a strategic partner to meet the company's long term chassis requirements in the U.S."

"The partnership with DCLI insures that HMM's customers and motor carriers will have an adequate and reliable supply of marine chassis through DCLI's nationwide fleet of approximately 100,000 units," he said.