Transdev News

The European Commission has approved the takeover of troubled France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM by Corsican entrepreneur Patrick Rocca, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday. In the letter dated Nov. 27 to French junior transport minister Alain Vidalies, European Commission antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said a takeover by Rocca would guarantee the required "economic discontinuity" between SNCM's old and new shareholders and clear the way for the Commission to withdraw its 2013 order that SNCM repay 440 million euros worth of illegal state aid. The ruling clears the way for SNCM majority shareholder Transdev, jointly owned by water and waste group Veolia and French state bank CDC, to sell SNCM.

France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM has suspended payments to creditors and will file for court protection on Tuesday, the firm said in a statement late on Monday. Majority-owned by public transport firm Transdev, which is owned by water firm Veolia and French state bank CDC, SNCM said its management would now focus on finding a buyer for the firm. The court protection procedure will effectively mean the end of loss-making SNCM, which is unable to repay 440 million euros ($550 million) of illegal state aid as ordered by European Union competition authorities. Shipping companies could buy some of its ferries and take over part of its 1,900-strong staff to continue the key Marseille-Corsica lines, but other routes are expected to be discontinued.

France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM will file for court protection next week, a source close to the company told Reuters on Wednesday, which will clear the way for its shareholder Veolia to restructure its transport division. Water and waste firm Veolia and the French state, which together control SNCM, have said court protection from creditors is the only way to shield the loss-making ferry operator from two separate European Union state aid repayment claims totalling 440 million euros.

Cash-strapped ferry operator SNCM looks set to seek legal protection from its creditors after Europe's highest court ruled on Thursday it must pay back 220 million euros ($289 million) of French state aid. SNCM, owned 66 percent by transport group Transdev, has racked up losses as low-cost competitors have eaten away its market share and is fast running out of funds. Transdev - itself a joint venture between water and waste firm Veolia and French state bank CDC - has said it will…

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday he would take steps "within hours" to end blockades of ports in Marseille and Corsica by workers of the SNCM ferry operator, who are striking over the firm's restructuring plans. Workers at the loss-making company partially owned by Veolia have been on strike since June 24, occupying ferries and blockading access to part of Marseille's port for 16 days over fears they will lose jobs and job privileges. The strike has left the island in part cut off from the mainland at the peak of the tourist season vital to Corsica's economy while holding up the flow of goods. Valls, who has warned repeatedly that the strike could condemn the SNCM "to death"…

Workers at France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM must end their strike and let the troubled company undergo a restructuring to secure its future, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday. Loss-making SNCM, whose unions have been on strike since June 24, risks bankruptcy and needs to be placed under court protection, Valls told TV station TF1 in an interview. "This situation cannot go on and there needs to be a court-ordered restructuring, because this company is sinking, and in fact the days of strike that accumulate are only putting it more into trouble," Valls said. The comments were even harsher than those of France's transport minister…

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.

Government representatives on the board of Corsica ferry operator SNCM will vote on Monday to decide whether Veolia can retake control of the troubled business. The vote is tricky for the government as siding with Veolia could lead to protests by SNCM unions in Marseille ahead of European elections in two weeks. Veolia wants to put loss-making SNCM (Societe Nationale Maritime Corse Mediterranee) under court protection to shield it from a European Commission order to repay 440 million euros ($605 million) of state aid. Veolia has also said it will not put any more money into the ferry company.

French transport firm Transdev expects to return to profit this year, but sees no quick solution for its troubled Mediterranean ferry unit SNCM, which is blocking a reshuffle in Transdev shareholdings between Veolia and state-owned bank CDC. Transdev's 2013 net loss narrowed to 130 million euros ($179 million) from a restated 391 million loss in 2012. The loss was mainly due to 107 million euros worth of writedowns related to SNCM, which runs ferries between Corsica and mainland France. At the presentation of the firm's 2013 earnings, Transdev CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac said a partial sale of Veolia's 50 percent stake in Transdev to its joint-venture partner CDC remained conditional on the sale of Transdev's 66 percent stake in SNCM, as CDC does not want to take it over.

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.