CMA CGM has sold a $54.5m position in container ship owner Global Ship Lease (GSL) in a move that removed any remaining ownership in the French company, according to regulatory filings.
The Rodolphe Saade-led, Marseilles-based liner operator has divested its last 3.05m shares of New York-listed Global Lease stock, a document filed on Wednesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. CMA CGM said it sold its last shares on 5 August.
Both companies had agreed to the full divestiture in late May.
GSL shares were trading at $17.87 per share at Wednesday’s mid-day trading on Wall Street, putting the value of the 8.3% stake in Global Ship Lease at $54.5m.
The London-headquartered GSL owns 18 boxships, 16 of which are chartered to CMA CGM.
CMA CGM founded GSL in 2007, before spinning it off in a $1bn reverse merger with Marathon Acquisition that won it a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The liner operator emerged from the 2008 deal with 11.9m GSL shares, or a 30.9% stake.
CMA CGM then began reinvesting in the spin-off, increasing its holding to 23.6m shares in September 2013, boosting its position in the company to 46.6%.
The company further grew its position to 24.4m shares in November 2018, but its stake in GSL declined to 34.1% due to share dilution, SEC documents indicated.
In October 2019, CMA CGM lowered its share count in GSL stock to 3.05m for a 17.4% stake in GSL.
The remaining major GSL shareholders include Goldman Sachs, which holds a 10.6% stake. Punch & Associates Investment Management and Shipping Participants each hold a 6.4% stake.
