TOKYO -- Mitsubishi HC Capital is to buy U.S. transportation finance company CAI International in a $2.9 billion deal.

"We have decided to make this acquisition in order to strengthen our 'global assets' which are one of our focus areas," said MHC in a statement issued on Friday.

MHC will acquire all of CAI's common stock in an all-cash transaction for $56 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $1.1 billion, according to CAI, which said the total enterprise value of the deal was $2.9 billion.

The cash consideration represents a 46.8% premium over CAI's closing stock price on Thursday.

CAI is the world's fifth-largest company in the marine container leasing industry in terms of the number of containers it owns. The merger makes MHC the second-largest container leasing company on that basis, according to MHC.

"We believe our shipping line customers and manufacturing partners will most certainly benefit from the scale and financial strength of the merged company," David Remington, chairman of the CAI board of directors, said in a statement.

The merger comes amid a surge in demand for shipping services due to the coronavirus pandemic fueling stay-at-home consumption. With demand for marine containers on the rise, shipping containers are in short supply globally.

"The importance of shipping containers in marine transportation is being recognized once again," said MHC in the statement.