Luxembourg-based short sea shipping and multimodal operator CLdN has agreed to acquire Samskip’s quay-to-quay and door-to-door freight business between the Continent and UK & Ireland.
The acquisition covers the container shipping services currently operated by Samskip between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and the UK ports of Belfast, Blythe, Grangemouth, Hull and Tilbury and the Irish ports of Cork, Dublin and Waterford.
These services currently carry out more than 1,000 port calls every year, transporting cargo for a broad customer base, including blue chip consumer goods manufacturers.
The transaction also covers the door-to-door cargo services connecting the UK and Ireland with continental Europe, including the transfer of the lease agreements for more than 5,000 multimodal cargo units including 45ft pallet-wide containers, refrigerated containers and curtain-side containers; 40 and 45ft flat racks and 40ft high-cube refrigerated containers.
The transfer of activities also involves certain supplier agreements being transferred to CLdN including contracts related to road haulage, rail and barge connections, vessel sharing and port operating agreements.
The transaction is subject to fulfilment or waiver of specific conditions, amongst which the satisfactory outcome of the relevant regulatory and competition clearances.
Both parties have agreed not to disclose financial details related to the transaction.
CLdN chief executive Florent Maes said the transaction is complementary to CLdN’s existing shipping and multimodal activities, and will offer customers an even broader array of shipping options, increased sailing frequency, and enhanced door-to-door equipment and services.
With 30 ships and more than 200 sailings a week, CLdN provides shortsea connections between the European continent, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iberia and Scandinavia.
For Samskip, the transaction will enable the company to focus even more on its long-distance multimodal network that connects destinations covering mainland Europe, the Nordics, Baltics and North Africa.
Samskip chief executive Ólafur Orri Ólafsson added: “We at Samskip are very confident about this transaction. It will allow us to focus on the key strategic markets of the future, where we will continue to invest in our organization and further develop our longer-distance trades where we deliver the most value to our customers. At the same time, selling the UK and Ireland trades to a strong partner will secure the continuation of this trade and guarantee a high coverage for our customers in the respective markets.”
