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CMA CGM finalizes purchase of Containerships

The European Commission authorized the acquisition of the Finnish container transportation and logistics company.

   The CMA CGM Group said Wednesday it has completed the acquisition of Containerships.
   The Group announced that it had reached an agreement with Containerships in June. The European Commission authorized the transaction Oct. 22. Containerships, which specializes in the intra-European market, is a Finnish container transportation and logistics company. 
   Founded in 1966, Containerships has 690 employees offers logistics solutions through all types of transportation.
   The Group said the acquisition strengthens its position as a “major player in intra-European transport, in particular through the combination of the geographical areas covered by Containerships and MacAndrews.”
   MacAndrews, recently merged with OPDR, covers Great Britain, Poland, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the Group said. Containerships is present in the Baltic markets, Russia, Northern Europe, North Africa and Turkey.
   “Customers of the CMA CGM Group’s intra-European activity will now benefit from the expertise of 2,700 employees located in 130 offices,” the company said in a press release Wednesday, noting that in 2017, 2.2 million TEUs were transported on CMA CGM Group’s and Containerships’ intra-European lines.
   The acquisition of Containerships is part of the CMA CGM Group’s strategy aimed at densifying its regional network, which began in 2002 with the acquisition of MacAndrews, the company said in the press release. “CMA CGM is thus strengthening its intra-regional offer, a rapidly expanding market in which the Group is already present through its subsidiaries.”
   Those subsidiaries are CNC Line in the intra-Asia market, Mercosul in Brazil, Sofrana in the Pacific Islands and MacAndrews in intra-Europe. 
   “With Containerships, CMA CGM is also pursuing its strategy towards the protection of the environment with the upcoming entry into Containerships’ fleet of four 1,400-TEU vessels powered by liquefied natural gas,” the company said. “These vessels will be followed, from 2020 onwards, by the entry into service of the nine 22,000-TEU and two 1,400-TEU containerships ordered by the CMA CGM Group.”
   CMA CGM said Containerships also has a fleet of LNG-powered trucks, enabling the company to offer LNG throughout the transport cycle.