CMA CGM sells 20 percent stake

Yildirim Group of Turkey will invest US$500 million to acquire a 20 percent shareholding of CMA CGM, the French line announced.

In an agreement between CMA CGM shareholders and Yildirim, the Turkish group will acquire five-year ORA equity notes that will give it access to 20 percent of CMA CGM's share capital.

Yildirim Group will be given three seats on the 10-member board of directors. CMA CGM will retain a majority interest with an 80 percent shareholding and voting rights.

French line chairman Jacques SaadŽ said the agreement enabled CMA CGM to strengthen its equity base and secure the financing of its investment plan.

Robert YŸksel Yildirim, president and chief executive officer of Yildirim Group said he was confident in CMA CGM's potential. "Its shipping expertise, worldwide presence and efficient fleet have enabled it to emerge from the crisis in even better shape," he said."

Yildirim Group is an international family-run holding company established in 1963 in Samsun, Turkey. It is currently present in chrome ore mining and trading, ferrochrome production and trading, coal trading, fertiliser production and trading, shipping, shipbuilding, and port management.

The agreement comes in a favourable environment for the French line. For the first nine months of 2010, revenue totalled $10.5 billion, up 38 percent over the previous year, while freight volumes rose by nearly 18 percent year-on-year to 6.8 million TEUs. The group achieved an operating margin (EBITDA) for the period of 18.5 percent, one of the best performances of its sector.

CMA CGM said its good results were attributable to the group's investment policy in large vessels and its pro-active cost reduction plan, together with the resumption of world trade and in particular, the growth in volumes on the Asia-Europe (up 21.1 percent) and Asia-US lines (up 15.4 percent) in the first nine months of the year.

To keep pace with growth in freight volumes, CMA CGM has taken delivery of 12 new ships since the beginning of 2010, bringing the number of owned ships to 92. New ships have also been chartered, bringing the fleet to 400 units.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)