CMA CGM seeks to expand Mediterranean service through acquisition
Freight giant is in talks with food logistics company STEF Group to buy the mixed passenger and freight marine carrier La Méridionale.
Ocean freight giant CMA CGM Group is in talks to acquire La Méridionale, a shipping company specializing in passenger and freight transport in the Mediterranean, the French company said today.
CMA CGM is negotiating the deal with the firm’s parent company, STEF Group, a Paris-based provider of temperature-controlled logistics and transport for the European food sector.
If the deal goes through, CMA CGM said it “intends to turn around La Méridionale and restore its growth prospects.” To do so, the company would “create commercial complementarities in France and internationally, particularly the RORO service to Morocco, while preserving the jobs of French sailors on board its ships,” CMA CGM said.
Marseille, France-based La Méridionale is a 92-year-old firm that operates a daily freight and passenger service between Corsica and the European continent with up to 13 crossings per week. The shipping company has also opened a regular line between Marseille and Morocco with weekly services. La Méridionale employs nearly 600 people including 490 seafarers, with a fleet of four dedicated mixed passenger and freight vessels: the Pelagos, the Kalliste, the Piana, and the Girolata.