PARIS (Reuters) – CMA CGM is aiming for Ceva Logistics to break even this year, its finance chief said as the French shipping group opened a share offer to cement its control of the Swiss freight specialist.
CMA CGM's public tender will offer other shareholders 30 Swiss francs ($29.75) per share, valuing Ceva at 1.67 billion francs, a price agreed after Ceva rejected a takeover bid in October from Danish freight firm DSV.
Marseille-based CMA CGM, one of the world's largest container shipping lines, became Ceva's core shareholder when the Swiss company floated on the Zurich stock market last year, as part of a push to expand in non-maritime freight services. "Our wish is to stand on two feet – one in shipping and one in logistics," CMA CGM's Chief Financial Officer Michel Sirat told Reuters by telephone.
CMA CGM and Ceva in November announced plans to expand their logistics activities and boost the Swiss firm's profitability, including through cross-selling and standardized IT systems, and Sirat said the companies had agreed to target "a breakeven in 2019" for loss-making Ceva.