Xeneta: NOL deal came at a heavy price?

CMA CGM’s acquisition of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) may have come at a heavy price, freight rate tracker Xeneta said in a report.

Patrick Berglund, chief executive of Xeneta, questions if the French company has bitten off more than it can chew, as it has not been able to sell NOL’s container terminals yet.

CMA CGM has been working on integrating NOL after a $2.4bn takeover earlier this year.

It has already moved a big part of its traffic from Malaysia to Singapore and has also relocated its Asian headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.

But Berglund said CMA CGM’s most important debt-reducing move, the disposal of assets worth $1bn, has so far not progressed.

The French company has seen the first round of bids for APL container terminals remain outstanding.

Berglund added that CMA CGM’s intention to sell the terminals reflects its involvement in the newly established Ocean Alliance, which will diminish the need for owning many terminals.

CMA CGM fell to a loss of $268m in the third quarter, compared to a profit of $51m a year earlier.