CMA CGM to Acquire South Pacific Shipping Line SOFRANA Unilines

French shipping company CMA CGM has announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in SOFRANA Unilines, one of the key players in the South Pacific regional maritime trade.

SOFRANA Unilines operates a fleet of 10 vessels on eight tradelanes, servicing 21 ports in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands.

The acquisition will be made through CMA CGM subsidiary ANL, which already offers 16 trade lanes servicing major ports throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, North Asia, South East Asia, Indian Subcontinent and North America.

The newly combined group, SOFRANA ANL, will join CMA CGM’s portfolio of regional experts: OPDR and MacAndrews in Europe, CNC in Asia. In addition, CMA CGM announced in June its project to acquire Mercosul Line to build up its operations in Brazil.

The acquisition of SOFRANA Unilines is expected to be completed by the end of October.

“ANL’s extensive reach across Asia, ISC and North America coupled with SOFRANA’s in-depth knowledge of the Pacific islands will provide customers with a new level of service and routing options, all supported by the financial and operational strength of the CMA CGM Group,” the company said.