CMA CGM considers outside investment

CMA CGM considers outside investment    French container line CMA CGM is weighing offers from private investors to bolster its coffers after a turbulent 2009.
   The line confirmed Monday to American Shipper it has received offers from various interested parties. A report in Monday's Financial Times said the carrier is considering offers from Louis Dreyfus Group (France’s only other large ship owner), Goldman Sachs and Butler Capital Partners, among others.
   'CMA CGM has established a committee last fall so as to propose suitable measures to address the group's short- and medium-term financing requirements with a view to strengthening CMA CGM's capital structure, and in so doing ensuring its sustainable development,' said Guillaume Foucault, a spokesman for the company on financial matters, in an e-mail to American Shipper. 'The capital increase is part of the CMA CGM restructuring plan. CMA CGM is currently receiving offers from several investors.'
   He said the line is bound by confidentiality restrictions and couldn't elaborate further.
   After struggling mightily in 2009, due an industry-wide nosedive in demand and rates, CMA CGM said in December that its business was profitable. It also said it had reached a deal with lenders to restructure $500 million in debt, which also included a management shakeup that saw founder and former Chief Executive Officer Jacques Saad' relinquish his role as day-to-day head of the company. Saade remains as chairman.
   The line is not public but typically releases financial statements in the spring. CMA CGM has previously said it lost $515 million in the first half of 2009. ' Eric Johnson