CMA CGM has offered concessions in a bid to win European Union antitrust approval for its $2.4 billion takeover of Singaporean rival Neptune Orient Lines.
According to Reuters, CMA is expected to withdraw NOL from competing shipping alliances to allay concerns. The tie-up between German container shipping company Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE) and Chilean peer Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) gained the green light from the EU two years ago after CSAV agreed to withdraw from two shipping alliances covering trade between Northern Europe and the Caribbean, and South America’s west coast.
The move would avoid anti-competitive links between rival consortia – given that CMA CGM plans to bring APL into its separate Ocean Three Alliance with United Arab Shipping and China Shipping Container Lines, the Strait Times reports
CMA’s offer to withdraw NOL from competing shipping alliances has caused the EU competition authority to take extra time to examine the matter. The deadline for its decision on the NOL takeover has been pushed from April 15 to April 29.
