PARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) – CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping firm, has already reimbursed half of a $1.6 billion bank loan taken out to fund its acquisition of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the French company said on Thursday.
CMA CGM announced the acquisition of NOL last December in a $2.4 billion deal that handed it market leadership on trans-Pacific routes and reinforced its global scale to help weather a prolonged downturn in container shipping.
The group, which has until August 2017 to pay back the loan, used a sale-and-leaseback deal for containers worth $578 million and a $259 million securitisation programme covering customer debts to finance the partial reimbursement, a spokesman said.
The financing operations and the loan repayment had taken place since the end of the first half, he added.
The group reported in its second-quarter financial report total cash of $2.4 billion as of June 30.
Banking sources had expected CMA CGM to use asset sales or securitisation to help repay the loan for the NOL deal.
The group, which completed the takeover of NOL in June, aims to generate $1 billion from asset sales after reviewing activities at the combined company. It also has a separate 18-month plan to reduce costs by $1 billion by the end of 2017.
The shipping downturn, linked to vessel overcapacity and faltering economic growth, contributed to the demise of the world’s seventh-largest container line Hanjin, which filed for receivership in August, leaving ships and cargo stranded at sea.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Gilles Guillaume, additional reporting by Robert Smith; Editing by Geert De Clercq)
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian judge on Friday cleared three migrant sea rescue charities that had been accused of abetting irregular immigration in complicity with human traffickers, throwing out a case opened...
(Bloomberg) — The closure of one of the East Coast’s busiest ports after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has so far not led to broad price increases,...
(Bloomberg) — An Iranian ship that’s been linked to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea is returning home, removing a prominent asset in the area as the Islamic Republic braces...
April 18, 2024
Total Views: 1430
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.