Bollore News

France's CMA CGM has completed a $5 billion takeover of Bollore Logistics, its biggest-ever acquisition, and said it had funds for more deals as it seeks to counter volatility in container shipping.The acquisition of the logistics division of French conglomerate Bollore, announced last year, closed on Thursday at a final price of 4.85 billion euros ($5.25 billion) after debt and cash adjustments.The deal will extend the reach of CMA CGM's CEVA Logistics unit into areas such as freight management for pharmaceutical, cosmetics and luxury firms.CMA CGM, based in Marseille and privately controlled

The EU Commission on Friday said it had cleared the acquisition of the logistics operations of conglomerate Bollore by shipping group CMA CGM, subject to a number of conditions proposed by the companies.The commission, which oversees competition policy in the 27-nation European Union, said that the acquisition had been approved after its investigation found a number of concerns.To address them, the parties agreed to divest all of Bolloré Logistics' activities in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and French Guiana, as well as a number of assets in metropolitan France linked to these activiti

French shipping group CMA CGM expects container freight demand to improve from next year but the group's profits will continue to ease this year as a slump in freight rates from record highs and a weak economy weigh on results, it said on Friday.The company, privately controlled by the Saade family, reported a second-quarter net profit of $1.3 billion, down from $7.6 billion in the year-earlier period and from $2.0 billion in the first quarter. It expects the first quarter to…

CMA CGM expects its profit to ease further for the rest of the year after a first-quarter decline, as an uncertain economy and influx of new vessels cool the container shipping market after a record 2022.The company, based in Marseille and privately controlled by the founding Saade family, on Friday reported a first-quarter net profit of $2.0 billion, compared with $7.2 billion in the year-earlier period, and said in a statement it expects the first quarter to be its most profitable of 2023.CMA CGM is among shipping firms to have posted record profits last year, after the COVID-19 pandemic tri

French shipping group CMA CGM has committed to buy the logistics operations of family-run conglomerate Bollore for an enterprise value of 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion), the two companies said on Monday.CMA CGM granted the Bollore group an option to sell it the logistics business, which generated more than 7 billion euros in revenue last year and employs 13,500 people.Bollore said it would decide whether or not to exercise the option after consulting employee representatives.The…

French shipping group CMA CGM is offering 5 billion euros ($5.48 billion) for the logistics unit of Bollore, the family-run conglomerate said on Tuesday.For Bollore a deal would mean cutting ties with its biggest business while offering cash-rich CMA CGM a chance to bolster its bid to offer end-to-end transportation services and supply chain management.The business posted more than 7 billion euros in revenue last year and has 15,000 employees.News of the indicative offer, made on a cash free and debt-free basis, boosted Bollore's shares.Bollore disclosed it following a report in shipping publi

French conglomerate Bollore, run by the family of billionaire Vincent Bollore, said on Wednesday it had completed the sale of its Bolloré Africa Logistics arm to shipping company MSC Group.The Bolloré company added the transaction was on the basis of a 5.7 billion euro ($6.1 billion) enterprise value.“The Bolloré Group will remain strongly involved in Africa, notably through Canal+, and will also continue to develop on this continent its activities in many fields such as communications, entertainment, telecommunications and publishing,” added the company in a statement.The Bolloré company hold

At least two investors are expected to submit binding bids on Thursday for a majority stake in Greece's northern port of Alexandroupolis, sources close to the process told Reuters.Near the borders with Bulgaria and Turkey, and with rail links and a floating gas regasification unit in the pipeline, Alexandroupolis has potential as a transport and energy hub for central Europe.Four investors were shortlisted last year for a 67% stake in the port: Quintana Infrastructure and Development…

Sixty-five years after Aristotle Onassis founded Greece's Olympic Airways, another shipping entrepreneur is planning to take to the skies - this time in Italy, where Gianluigi Aponte's MSC has its sights on the successor company to Alitalia.The 81-year-old, known as "the captain" after building his shipping empire from a single vessel, is hoping to forge an air freight and passenger business to dovetail with MSC's sea cargo and cruise operations.But there are big challenges.Alitalia stumbled for years…

French shipping giant CMA CGM said it had struck a preliminary agreement to acquire a majority stake in French delivery firm Colis Prive, as it continues to build up its logistics business.CMA CGM is to buy 51% of Colis Prive from current owner Hopps Group and will have an option of increasing its stake further. The value of the planned transaction was not disclosed.Marseille-based CMA CGM has been investing in non-maritime services, similar to its container shipping rivals. After buying Swiss logistics group CEVA Logistics in 2019…

Container shipping giant Maersk on Wednesday agreed to buy Hong Kong-based LF Logistics for $3.6 billion in an all-cash deal, as it seeks to expand beyond its core ocean freight business.The deal is one of the group's largest takeovers to date and follows a series of acquisitions including e-commerce firms, a freight forwarder specializing in air freight and its smaller rival Hamburg Sud."The acquisition will further strengthen Maersk's capabilities as an integrated container logistics company…

A French judge on Wednesday placed tycoon Vincent Bollore under formal investigation over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in two African nations in return for port contracts.Bollore's company, Groupe Bollore, announced the decision by Judge Serge Tournaire, which came after Bollore had been questioned for two days by French fraud police.Bollore, whose logistics empire is a powerhouse in former French colonies across West Africa…

A consortium led by France's Bollore failed to make the final shortlist of firms vying to manage a new container terminal in Cameroon's southern port of Kribi, according to a commission report seen by Reuters on Monday. The government commission, charged with recommending a container terminal manager, shortlisted Philippines-based ICTSI and port operator APM Terminals, a unit of shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk. The commission said in its report it had reservations over the sustainability of the proposal from Bollore's consortium and found the offers from ICTSI and APMT to be the most plausible. "The Commission accepted the offers of ICTSI and APMT as being the most advantageous for Cameroon and the central African sub-region," it said.

Somaliland expects to choose a partner to develop and manage its Berbera port by the end of the year, with construction expected to start early next year, the breakaway territory's foreign minister said on Wednesday. Mohamed Behi Yonis said the state, which broke away from Somalia in 1991 but is not internationally recognised, was in talks with France's Bollore, the Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company and Dubai's DP World. "Those are the three major port management companies that are interested in developing the port. We have been discussing with all of them," he told Reuters on the sidelines of an African Development Bank meeting in Ivory Coast. "We have not made up our minds. We're looking at all options," he added.

Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday its APM Terminals unit would together with partners invest $1.5 billion to upgrade its Tema port terminal in Ghana and add 3.5 million TEUs in annual throughput capacity.   Partners are Bollore Africa Logistics and the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority.   (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki, editing by Anna Ringstrom)

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has received 1.5 billion dollars for the expansion of the Tema Port. The authority today signed a 35-year Concessionary Agreement with the Meridian Port Services (MPS) to boost expansion activities at the port. The Minister for Transport, Dzifa Attivor who witnessed the signing in Accra said the project will enhance the efficiency of the Port and make it more competitive. The expansion project which is scheduled to be completed in three years includes plans for the potential construction of additional terminal facilities, including bulk, liquid bulk and general cargo terminals, as global trade with Africa continue to accelerate.

Six local and foreign firms have expressed interest to construct a modern Davao Sasa Port, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Philippines said. The companies that purchased the bid documents include Anflocor, Netherlands-based global operator APMT, Asian Terminals Inc., French conglomerate Bollore, Singapore-based Portek and San Miguel Corporation. “This shows the enormous potential of the Davao region. The construction of a modernized port in Sasa will help meet the growing demand for world-class port services in Davao,” DOTC Secretary Joseph Abaya said. The project involves the development of the existing Sasa Port in Davao City into a modern, international-standard container terminal.

MANILA, July 29 (Reuters) - A 18.99 billion pesos ($417.91 million) project to modernise a port in the southern Philippines has attracted interest from five groups, a government official said on Wednesday, with bids due to be lodged by the fourth quarter. The government aims to award the contract in April to develop, operate and manage the Davao Sasa port over a 30-year concession period. It will be the first public-private partnership project award by the government on Mindanao, an island blighted by a long-running Islamist militant insurgency. The five groups that have submitted pre-qualification documents included Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp partnered with Dutch firm APM Terminals Management BV…

France's Bollore-led consortium has been awarded the contract to develop and operate a container terminal in Cameroon's deep-water port of Kribi, says a report in Reuters. Bollore's consortium included France's CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipper. Earlier, CHEC was chosen following a tender issued in 2008 on the financing, construction and operation of the Port of Kribi. Bolloré Africa Logistics that partnered with CMA CGM, the third largest owner, and the Chinese company CHEC, who built the port of Kribi made a financial offer of 623 , 4 million euros (about 409 billion FCFA). A proposal that allowed the consortium to largely outpace its competitors such as the Philippine International Container Terminal Services which made a final bid of 467.3 million euros…

Cameroon has awarded a contract for its Kribi port to a consortium led by French logistics group Necotrans, the two parties said. The deepwater port will allow for the import and export of raw materials such as timber and cotton as well as vehicles and service equipment for Cameroon's oil and gas sector. A contract for the Kribi container port was awarded to a Bollore-led consortium last week. The government is rushing to get Kribi operational to ease congestion on the port of Douala, 150 kilometres to the north. "As the only deepwater port in Central Africa, Kribi will be the economic lifeblood for Cameroon and the region, notably Chad and the Central African Republic," Necotrans President Gregory Querel said in a statement.

China Eximbank has loaned Ivory Coast $875 million (approx.) for the construction of a second container terminal at Abidjan port, noted the port's  General Director. Ivory Coast plans to increase capacity at the port in its economic capital Abidjan, one of the busiest in Africa. The port serves as a gateway for landlocked nations to the north and a transit point for beans from the world's top cocoa grower. "The total cost of the project is about $875 mil," Hien Yacouba Sie told a news conference. "The financing has been concluded with China Eximbank," Sie said, adding that construction would include the enlargement of the Vridi canal, the construction of the second container terminal and a roll on/roll off terminal.

Ivory Coast began construction on Tuesday of a four-year, 560 billion CFA franc ($962 million) project to build a second container terminal and widen the canal leading to its main port in the commercial capital Abidjan. Among the busiest in sub-Saharan Africa, the port serves Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa's largest economy and the world's top cocoa producer, and is also a gateway for landlocked nations to the north. China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd was awarded the construction contracts for both projects with the bulk of the cost covered by a loan from China's Eximbank. Construction of the new container terminal, which will be managed by consortium led by France's Bollore, will last 48 months and cost 409 billion CFA francs.

When the communication between ships and port is smoothly run, shipments move more quickly, more easily and more efficiently. This is where International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Facilitation Convention comes in. The FAL convention contains standards and recommended practices and rules for simplifying formalities, documentary requirements and procedures on ships’ arrival, stay and departure. The benefits of ratification and implementation of the FAL Convention were highlighted during a National Seminar on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic (27-29 March), held in Maputo, Mozambique. The aim was to support Mozambique to ratify the Convention, including its latest amendments.