CMA CGM Sells Off Luxury Cruise Business to Private Equity Firm

Image courtesy Le Ponant, (c) CIP

Bridgepoint and CMA CGM Group, with its parent company Merit, announced today that they have signed a formal agreement whereby Bridgepoint will acquire French luxury cruise line operator, and CGM CMA subsidiary, La Compagnie du Ponant.

The agreement will offer La Compagnie du Ponant the resources it needs to fulfil its ambitions, maintain its growth momentum and take its international expansion to a new level.

The parties have agreed to take until the end of August to finalize the transaction.

About Bridgepoint
Bridgepoint is a European private equity firm focusing on the acquisition of companies valued up to â‚¬1 billion. With some â‚¬11 billion of capital raised to date, it typically focuses on acquiring well-managed companies in attractive sectors with the potential to grow organically or through acquisition. Although a generalist investor, Bridgepoint has developed expertise in the business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, media, and industrial sectors. It has offices throughout in Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Stockholm and Shanghai.
See www.bridgepoint.eu

About Compagnie du Ponant
Founded in 1988, Compagnie du Ponant is a cruise line operating 4 luxury ships under the French flag. The only French shipowner of cruise vessels, the company operates in the high-end segment of the industry. Its yachts (32 to 132 cabins) sail the world’s oceans and more particularly in the Arctic and the Antarctic, giving the Compagnie du Ponant prominence as the “specialist of the Poles” via its cruises known as “5 star expeditions”. The Compagnie du Ponant employs 580 people (of which 500 are seagoing) and hosted 20 000 passengers in 2011 for a turnover of 80 Mâ‚¬.
See www.ponant.com

About CMA CGM Group
CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping company and ranked number one in France, achieved a turnover of 14.9 billion USD in 2011. Operating a fleet of 394 vessels, the Group serves more than 400 ports around the world. In 2011, it carried more than 10 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). With a presence on every continent and in 150 countries through its network of 650 agencies and branch offices, the Group employs 18,000 people worldwide.
See www.cma-cgm.com