The completion of the sale of the company would require the consent of regulatory authorities, as well as of certain counterparties of Bollor Africa Logistics.
Bollor Group on Monday has announced that it has received an offer from the Mediterranean Company (MSC) to buy the ports and logistics business in Africa.
French billionaire tycoon, Vincent Bollor is currently in talks to sell his long-grown family-owned business group to the giant player in transportation logistics, MSC, as a sign of how the COVID-19 pandemic has left the shipping companies flush with cash for possession.
The Bollor group has said that it has entered in an exclusive discussion with the MSC group based on an enterprise value of $6.4 bn, minority interests and net of debt, and the negotiations that would continue until the end of March as Bollor is studying the offer, as the deal to be concluded at the given timeline. The completion of the sale of the company would require the consent of regulatory authorities, as well as of certain counterparties of Bollor Africa Logistics.
The suggested deal would give MSC a significant presence in Africa including container terminal and rail concessions would also transform the Bollor family group as the French billionaire Vincent Bollor had earlier announced he intends to retire in the next two months.
The suggested deal would give MSC a significant presence in Africa including container terminal and rail concessions would also transform the Bollor family group as the French billionaire Vincent Bollor had earlier announced he intends to retire in the next two months.
Bollor Logistics claims to be the largest transport and logistics business group in Africa, a subsidiary owned by the Bollore group. The company offers a great range of services including the custom and regulatory agreement, logistics, multimodal transportation, global supply chain and other industrial projects with almost 250 subsidiaries, 21,000 employees working in 49 countries of the world. It is also present in 42 ports in Africa which are operating three rail concessions: Sitarail, Benirail and Camrail as well as 16 container terminal concessions.
On the other hand, for the MSC, the deal would be a great way to intensify and expand its reach for the infrastructure in the areas of west Africa. The private Swiss-Italian company group has extended its container shipping fleet remarkably during the crisis of the supply chains in the past 18 months, and it could also overtake its Danish rival Maersk soon as the largest shipping group in the world. The possession would really help MSC to make a turn in the strategic plans under the chief executive of the company who joined the private business at the end of 2020. The deal and its potential also tend to make MSC join its competitors in container shipping to strengthen up its presence in the logistics sector as the other vast supply chains are facing the challenges and other problems.
MSC had focused and relied on mostly the organic growth of the company in the family running business before the entry of an outsider in the company, as it resisted the large-scale investments and mergers to ramp-up since the founding of the company in the year 1970. Due to the supply chain restraints, other shipping lines have also been consuming the great profits to buy post infrastructure as well as the inland logistics capabilities.
The Bollor Group will, in any event, remain strongly involved in Africa, with Canal+, the leading pay-TV operator in French-speaking Africa and a major shareholder of MultiChoice, the leading pay-TV operator in English-speaking Africa. The Group will also continue to develop its activities in numerous sectors such as communication, entertainment, telecoms, publishing the release by Bollore said.
The Group will also continue to develop its activities in numerous sectors such as communication, entertainment, telecoms, publishing the release by Bollore said.
