CMA CGM Offers Concessions to Get EU Approval for $2.4 Billion NOL Deal

Photo: CMA CGM

BRUSSELS, April 11 – French container shipping group CMA CGM has offered concessions in a bid to win European Union antitrust approval for its $2.4 billion takeover of Singaporean rival Neptune Orient Lines.

CMA CGM, which ranks behind No. 1 Maersk Line and Swiss peer MSC in global shipping, submitted the concessions on Thursday, a filing on the European Commission website showed on Monday, without giving details.

CMA is expected to withdraw NOL from competing shipping alliances to allay concerns, people familiar with the matter said.

The tie-up between German container shipping company Hapag Lloyd and Chilean peer Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) gained the green light from the EU two years ago after CSAV agreed to withdraw from two shipping alliances covering trade between Northern Europe and the Caribbean, and South America’s west coast.

The CMA offer resulted in the EU competition authority extending the deadline for its decision on CMA CGM’s NOL takeover to April 29 from April 15 to examine the package, according to the Commission website. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alexander Smith)

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