CMA CGM Gets Green Light for Sale of Stakes in 10 Terminals

The EU has given approval to French shipping and logistics company CMA CGM and port developer and operator China Merchants Port Holdings (CMP) for the transfer of stakes in ten port terminals to their joint venture Terminal Link.

On Thursday March 19, 2020, the European Commission approved the deal under the EU Merger Regulation.

In a statement, the EC said, “The Commission has concluded that the proposed concentration would not raise competition concerns, given its very limited impact on the structure of the market”.

Recall that in late 2019, CMA CGM and CMP said they intended to enlarge the scope of their pre-existing JV Terminal Link by transferring shareholdings in ten container terminals currently held by CMA CGM to Terminal Link. Set up in 2013, Terminal Link is owned 51 percent by CMA CGM and 49 percent by CMP.

The shareholdings in the terminals will first be regrouped under two CMA CGM subsidiaries, namely France’s CMA CGM Port Terminals Singapore’s Terminal Link Holding, which will be sold to Terminal Link.

The terminals are located in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Jamaica, Ukraine, Iraq and the Netherlands.

CMA CGM plans to cash in USD 968 million from the transaction.

The sale is part of the group’s plan to cut debt and raise over USD 2 billion by mid-2020 in additional cash through the sale of vessels and terminal stakes.