Caisse News

Global port operator DP World and Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec are nearing a deal to invest an additional $4.5 billion in their global portfolio of port terminals, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.DP World and the Canadian pension fund manager could announce the injection of funds as early as this week, the report added.DP World and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec were not immediately available to comment in response to a Reuters request. (Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)

Dubai-based port operator DP World announced it has completed the acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks in Canada from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (MIP) alongside its partner Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).The enabler of global trade said in a press release that said the acquisition complements its footprint in Canada, which also includes terminal operations in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert and St John’s, without disclosing the value of the purchase.The integrated coast-to-coast platform provides customers with bulk, breakbulk and general cargo services.DP World's global strategy is to become a trade enabler and solutions provider as the company looks to participate across a wider part of the supply chain.

French marine services group Bourbon Corporation, which has been in a court restructuring process after its business was hit by volatile energy markets, said its assets would be taken over by its creditor banks.Bourbon said the Marseille commercial court had ruled that Bourbon's assets would be transferred to Société Phocéenne de Participations (SPP) from Jan. 2, 2020.SPP is owned by BNP Paribas, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Alpes Provence, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Paris et d'Ile de France…

The Port of Marseille Fos (Grand Port Maritime de Marseille; GPMM) has just completed a blockchain pilot scheme to enhanced efficiencies at France’s largest seaport.The focus of the project for freight transportation on the  Mediterranean-Rhone-Saone (MeRS) corridor is to run a trial to evaluate the security of the digital transport chain. It will involve applying blockchain technology to supply chain logistics and freight forwarding, particularly where goods are transported in multiple ways such as sea and road.Results from trials held over recent months have now been reviewed at a meeting hosted by the port and demonstrated that harmonization of the digital transport chain improved fluidity…

French utility Engie and Spanish partner EDP Renovaveis (EDPR) announced their alliance with the Japanese group Sumitomo Corporation to build the French offshore wind farms of Dieppe-Le Tréport and Yeu-Noirmoutier.As part of the alliance, Sumitomo Corporation acquires a 29.5% equity stake in the French offshore projects (Dieppe Le Tréport and Yeu Noirmoutier) and will bring to the consortium its proven and complementary offshore wind expertise in terms of development, construction and operation.ENGIE remains the reference shareholder with a 31% stake and the leading industrial player of both parks (496 MW each), in partnership with EDPR (29…

The shipping industry has long been criticised by campaigners for allowing vessels to be broken up on beaches, endangering workers and polluting the sea and sand. Now, it is being called to account from a quarter that may have a bit more clout - its financial backers. Norway's $1 trillion Oil Fund, a leader in ethical investing, in February sold its stake in four firms because they scrap on the beach. Three of the firms excluded by Norway's fund - Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, Precious Shipping and Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA) of Thailand - say they have been unfairly singled out.

The members of the Smart Port  steering committee collectively approved a first series of projects that will take advantage of the digital transition to affirm and consolidate the port-based vocation of the Aix-Marseille-Provence urban area. With this dynamic, Marseille Fos, the French Smart Port in Med is being built! During a steering committee meeting including representatives of the government, Région Provence-AlpesCôte d'Azur, the Conseil Départmental des Bouches-du-Rhône, Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, Ville de Marseille, Etablissement Public Euroméditerranée, Caisse des Dépôts, Agence Régionale pour l’Innovation et l’Internationalisation des Entreprises…

Dubai ports operator DP World said on Monday it was partnering with Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to create an investment vehicle worth US$3.7 billion that would invest in ports and terminals worldwide. DP World will hold a 55 percent share in the vehicle while Caisse de dépôt, a long-term institutional investor that manages funds for public pension and insurance plans, will own 45 percent. The platform will have "a focus on investment-grade countries" excluding the United Arab Emirates, and will invest mostly in existing assets but with up to 25 percent in greenfield opportunities, DP World said. The vehicle will be seeded with two of DP World's Canadian container terminals located on the Pacific coast in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, it added.

DP World will partner with a Canadian pension fund in a $3.7 billion investment vehicle that primarily looks at brownfield projects in investment-graded countries, says Drewry Maritime Equity Research. The terminal operator will retain operational control of the fund with 55 percent stake, after seeding it with two west coast Canadian terminals (Prince Rupert and Vancouver). The pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) will plough $640 million for the remaining 45 percent stake. Hence, the total start-up capital for the investment vehicle is $1.42 billion. DMER view: "We have earlier commented on DP World’s leverage that will not be able to support its ambition – 100m gross TEU capacity target by 2020.

DP World announces the creation of an investment vehicle in partnership with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of North America’s largest pension fund managers. The investment platform totals US$ 3.7 billion, with DP World holding a 55% share and CDPQ the remaining 45%. The platform will invest in ports and terminals globally (excluding the UAE) across the life cycle of the asset, with a focus on investment grade countries. It will also invest mostly in existing assets, but with up to 25% invested in greenfield opportunities. Through this platform, DP World will share new investment opportunities and CDPQ will have the option of co-investing alongside DP World.

Six partners led by the Marseilles Fos port authority have formed the Mourepiane combined transport terminal company (MTTC) to help finance and manage construction of the port’s long-planned intermodal upgrade development in the Marseilles harbor area. The €60.5 million project will create a high-performance base improving links and pre/post-dispatch handling between Mourepiane container terminal and the adjacent railhead. The new facility will also serve other Marseilles quays, with their current multimodal site at Canet being transferred to the Euromediterranee urban renewal scheme. Construction will start in summer 2015. The terminal is due on stream in mid-2017 and will be operated by a purpose-formed company of Marseilles and France-based multimodal specialists.

Veolia Environnement, a global leader in water and waste management, has a little local difficulty: an ailing France-Corsica ferry operator that weighs on its shares, gives its CEO nightmares and puts the brakes on its strategic plans. At the end of 2012, new Chief Executive Antoine Frerot decided to get out of transport to focus Veolia on its higher-margin water, waste andenergy businesses, and agreed with state-owned Caisse des Depots (CDC) that it would gradually stake over Veolia's stake in their joint venture Transdev, which runs trains, buses and taxis in about 20 countries. CDC had one condition - that Veolia keep Transdev's 66 percent stake in Societe Nationale Corse Mediterranee (SNCM), a loss-making ferry operator that once had a monopoly on France-Corsica routes.

Mexican ferry company Baja Ferries said on Tuesday it hopes to close a deal to buy troubled French ferry operator SNCM before November or December. SNCM (Societé Nationale Corse-Méditerranée), which runs routes from cities on France's Mediterranean coast to Corsica and northern Africa, has accrued losses of about 250 million euros ($340.38 million) from 2001 to 2013. In May, Baja said it was in talks with French transport firm Transdev about buying its 66 percent stake in SNCM.

The board of France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM on Monday voted out its chief executive who had sided with trade unions, allowing shareholder Veolia to retake control and restructure the loss-making firm. Veolia wants to put Societe Nationale Corse Mediterranee under court protection to shield it from a European Commission order to repay 440 million euros ($605 million) of state aid and is looking for a buyer of a restructured SNCM. Transport firm Transdev - itself a 50-50 joint venture between Veolia and state-backed Caisse des Depots (CDC) - owns 66 percent of SNCM but Transdev has not been able to impose its will at SNCM because the ferry company's chief executive and board chairman have sided with its unions and ignored instructions of their employer.

Reuters - Loss-making France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM, which is partly owned by French water and waste group Veolia Environnement, plans to order four new ships, an SNCM spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman said the board had approved deals for four new ferries, two of them firm orders and two of them purchase options, to renew the fleet as part of a restructuring plan for the firm. He did not provide details on the vote or explain how the ferry operator plans to finance the purchases, with each ship estimated to cost 150 million to 170 million euros.

GDF SUEZ and EDP Renewables have been joined by French coastal region experts Neoen Marine to tender for a new offshore wind farm development, and at the same time to contribute to the development of offshore wind energy in France and the structuring of an industrial sector. The tender relates to the installation of 1,000 MW of wind turbines off the French coast near Le Tréport (Haute-Normandie – 500 MW) and the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier (Pays de la Loire – 500 MW) by 2020. The offers will be assessed by the French government based on technical, financial, industrial, social and environmental criteria. Neoen Marine will provide the consortium with its recognized experience as a developer in the Yeu-Noirmoutier region and its local knowledge…

The Marguerite Fund has acquired a 22.5% stake in the German greenfield Butendiek offshore wind farm. The Butendiek project is a 288 MW greenfield offshore wind farm located in the North-Sea in the German exclusive economic zone, 32 km west of the German Island of Sylt, and consisting of 80 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbines. The start of the offshore construction works is scheduled for Spring 2014 and installation of the wind turbines is planned to take place between Autumn 2014 and Summer 2015. When commissioned the wind farm will produce 1,290 GWh p.a., enough to supply the equivalent of some 370,000 households with electricity each year. The cost of the project is estimated to be €1.3bn.