CMA CGM said early on Friday it has received regulatory approval to complete the acquisition of two key container terminals on the US East Coast and offered some details on how it plans to expand them.
The French liner giant said in a statement that it will target to increase the CGT Bayonne and New York terminals’ capacity “by more than 50% during the next 10 years”.
When CMA CGM announced last December a preliminary agreement to buy the two facilities from Global Container Terminals Inc (CGT), it had set a broad objective to increase their combined capacity “by up to 80 % in the coming years”.
Having finalised the deal now, the rapidly expanding logistics behemoth has offered a few details on how exactly this expansion will look like.
According to Friday’s statement, Bayonne’s Berth 3 will be deepened to 55 feet to enhance the terminal's capacity to handle 18,000-teu vessels.
CMA CGM plans furthermore to boost yard and berth capacity to enhance “operational fluidity” at both terminals, improve their direct access to road and rail arteries and cut emissions towards a “net-zero” goal by 2050.
The development plan will directly create 240 jobs at the two facilities and at least 700 construction jobs nearby.
CMA CGM has not revealed the price of the acquisition.
However, Bloomberg reported in October 2022 that the sale could fetch about $3bn for GCT’s owners, who are the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, IFM Investors and British Columbia Investment Management Corp.
Rapid expansion
CMA CGM will operate the two facilities as multi-user terminals under the leadership of the current management team.
Their acquisition brings CMA CGM’s footprint in the US to seven terminal assets that also include the recently acquired Fenix Marine Services in Los Angeles, PMS in the same area, Dutch Harbor in Alaska and 26% stakes in Bayport in Houston and South Florida Container Terminal in Miami.
CMA CGM began its operations in the US in the late 1980s and opened its US headquarters in Norfolk in 2005. The group currently employs more than 15,000 people in the US.
The shipowner also operates a fleet of nine US-flagged vessels operated under the APL, formerly American President Lines, brand.
CMA CGM has investments in more than 50 port terminals in 28 countries worldwide, through CMA Terminals and its Terminal Link joint venture.
