Shipping and logistics major CMA CGM has taken another step to becoming an all-encompassing end-to-end logistics service provider.
The group yesterday announced that it had signed a share purchase agreement with Ingram Micro which will see the company acquiring the majority of the company’s Commerce & Lifecycle Services activities (CLS).
These include Shipwire, a cloud-based logistics technology platform, and the company’s technology forward logistics businesses in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The remaining portions of the existing CLS business will be retained by Ingram Micro.
The enterprise value of the transaction is US$ 3.0 billion.
The annual 2021 revenues for the CLS business, which specialises in e-commerce contract logistics and omni-channel fulfilment, is estimated at US$ 1.7 billion.
“The combination of CEVA Logistics and Ingram Micro CLS activities will create the fourth-largest global provider of contract logistics services,” said Rodolphe Saadé, the line’s chairman.
He added that the new acquisition would complement CEVA’s existing e-commerce business and accelerate its growth in key market segments such as technology, retail and fashion.
The group has clearly been on a spending spree this year, ramping up its non-carrier business activities.
Early last month it announced the acquisition of a 90% stake in the Fenix Marine Services (FMS) terminal in Los Angeles from EQT Infrastructure III, based on an enterprise value of US$ 2.3 billion.
The acquisition will make the group, which currently holds a 10% stake, the sole owner.
This investment was consistent with the Group’s strategy of developing its terminal business, said Saadé.
Currently, the carrier has investments in 49 port terminals in 27 countries through its two subsidiaries, CMA Terminals and Terminal Link.
Following that purchase was the signing of an agreement for the acquisition of four Airbus A350F aircraft in mid-November, adding to the carrier’s airfreight division, CMA CGM AIR CARGO, launched in March this year.
The company is clearly not short of cash, with its Q3 revenue surging by 89% compared to profit levels recorded a year ago.
Its net profit rose to US$5.6 billion in the third quarter from US$567 million in the same period last year – with more of the same expected in Q4.
