News / EC competition commission clears CMA CGM's Bolloré takeover

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The European Commission’s competition regulators have cleared CMA CGM’s acquisition of French freight forwarding group Bolloré Logistics – on condition it sells some of its Caribbean subsidiaries.

Investigations by EC regulators concluded that in certain markets – notably Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana – the takeover would have “created important vertical links” between CMA CGM’s upstream container shipping activities on routes connecting Europe with French Caribbean territories, as well as Bolloré Logistics’ “downstream sea freight forwarding activities in those territories”.

The EC said: “The commission found that CMA CGM could have the ability and incentive to favour Bolloré Logistics at the expense of rival freight forwarders, in particular in view of CMA CGM’s very high market shares on these overseas routes and the competitive structures in these territories.”

Once the companies agreed to sell all Bolloré’s activities in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and French Guiana, as well as a number of assets in France linked to these activities, the commission gave its approval.

“Competitive maritime transport markets are crucial to strengthen territorial cohesion within the European Union, ensuring that remote and insular territories remain well connected and can develop economically,” said Margrethe Vestager, EC competition commissioner.

“The remedies offered by the parties will ensure that the local sea freight forwarding markets remain competitive and that, ultimately, local customers do not end up paying higher prices for products imported from mainland Europe,” she added.

After completion, the €4.65bn ($5bn) takeover will represent CMA CGM’s largest M&A deal since it bought Ceva Logistics in 2019.

Since then, it has ploughed money into Ingram CLS (2021), Gefco (2022) and Colis Privé (2022) in its strategy to raise its profile in global logistics and to reduce its reliance on container shipping and the volatile maritime market. Meanwhile, in the UK, Ceva is now looking to acquire Wincanton.