OPDR becomes a major acquisition for the CMA CGM Group

During his visit in Hamburg, Germany on November 25^th, Jacques R. Saadé announced the acquisition of the German company OPDR (Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei GmbH & Co. KG). OPDR is a shipping company owned by the Bernhard Schulte Group, an expert in Short Sea Shipping and door to door logistics for North Europe, Canary Islands, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. With its over 200 dedicated collaborators and its network of agencies, the company connects Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa. Farid T. Salem, CMA CGM Group Executive Officer, who led this acquisition, declares: “This new acquisition reinforces the Group’s presence on the growing intra-European Short Sea transportation market. This is a continuation of our strategy to broaden our regional network, a strategy which began with the acquisition of MacAndrews in 2002.  As with MacAndrews, we plan on maintaining and developing the OPDR company, as well as creating new synergies with both MacAndrews and the CMA CGM Group”. OPDR operates five different services between: • North Europe and the Canary Islands, • Seville and the Canary Islands, • North Europe, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, • North Europe and Morocco, • North Europe, Spain and Scandinavia. OPDR and MacAndrews joint capacities will reinforce the CMA CGM Group’s intra-European offering, and its tailor made intermodal solutions. Our clients will also benefit from substantial synergies at the CMA CGM Group level.  In 2014, OPDR expects to carry over 240,000 TEUs, and MacAndrews expects to carry over 290,000 TEUs. The closing of this transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.