TALKS were reportedly well underway last week between cash-strapped French shipping line CMA CGM to sell 49 per cent of its share in its port operating unit Terminal Link to Hong Kong terminal operator China Merchants Holdings, according to the London Shipping press.
CMA CGM chairman Jacques Saade has said he hopes to raise $600 million to $700 million from the sale of non-core ports assets.
Both Containerisation International and Lloyd`s List have cited a "well-place source" saying a memorandum of understanding on the terms for the sale was imminent, with final terms being settled in January.
Neither CMA CGM nor China Merchants would comment, though the two have been in talks for some time.
CMA CGM`s chief financial officer Michel Sirat revealed last month that the Marseilles company expected to conclude the sale of 49 per cent of its ports unit Terminal Link by the beginning of 2013. Terminal Link, ranked 12th port operator in the world, holds assets in more than 20 container terminals worldwide including operations at Dunkirk, Le Havre, Houston, Miami, Tanger Med and Busan, all favoured ports of call for CMA CGM.
Hong Kong`s China Merchants managing director Hu Jianhua has said he wants his company to be a global player like Maersk`s APM Terminals, Dubai`s DP World and Hong Kong`s Hutchison Port Holdings.
China Merchants owns terminals on the Pearl River, at Chiwan, Shekou and Nanshan and has stakes in terminals in Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Tianjin as well as a 27 per cent share in Hong Kong`s Modern Terminals Limited. It also recently bought a 50 per cent stake in a West African terminal at Lome in Togo.