| France’s CMA CGM SA is in exclusive talks to buy Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines Ltd, as global shipping companies grapple with ways to revive earnings amid a glut of new vessels, shrinking demand and declining prices. A deal would bring together the world’s third-largest container company with Southeast Asia’s biggest container shipper. CMA CGM has until December 7 to complete a due diligence review and negotiate the definitive agreements for the offer, Neptune Orient said in a statement Saturday.
The Singapore-based liner is 67 per cent-owned by state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. “Temasek has been looking for a buyer for a while now, so if somebody comes along with a price they and NOL are comfortable with, consolidation may be good,” said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Private Banking in Singapore...............................................Full Article: Source
|