CMA CGM is pressing on with a $2.4bn takeover of Neptune Orient Lines by lining up its final cash offer for the Singaporean firm.
The French giant has now met the pre-conditions of its move and will table a bid for remaining shares in the Singapore-quoted company, a statement said.
It comes after Chinese regulators offered a green light to the transaction which will create a 563 vessel outfit.
Since the takeover became public in December 2015, CMA CGM has picked up additional stock and today controls a stake of over 10%. The remaining shares will cost SGD 1.30 each.
A deal will see the combination of two of the largest container shipping companies in the world, and the private French outfit take over a Singaporean icon.
Rodolphe Saade, chief executive of CMA CGM, has said NOL will be taken private after the deal, which was driven by the need for scale.
"Only two types of players are constantly profitable. The largest mainline players and the small niche-market players," Saade said in December.
NOL had looked at various options to increase its scale by either dramatically increasing the size of its fleet or acquiring a rival operator but in the end determined that the CMA CGM offer was the best option.
