Vincent Bolloré is in talks to sell his family-owned group’s ports and logistics business in Africa to transportation giant MSC Group in a sign of how the pandemic has left container shipping companies flush with cash for acquisitions. It had entered exclusive talks with MSC based on an enterprise value of €5.7bn, net of debt and minority interests, and those negotiations would continue until the end of March. The unit brought in €2.1bn in revenue last year, has a presence in 42 ports, and operates 16 container terminals in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, among other countries.
It would leave Bolloré Group with a smaller logistics business and make the family’s fortunes more reliant on its media holdings, which include its 27 per cent share in French media group Vivendi and an 18 per cent stake in the recently spun-out Universal Music Group. The Africa logistics business has been the source of legal woes for the company and the family. In February, Bolloré Group agreed to pay a €12m fine to avoid prosecution in France over allegations that it had corruptly secured a ports contract in Togo, but Vincent Bolloré himself and another executive remain under official investigation and could yet be tried. For MSC, the deal would be a way to diversify and extend its reach into critical inland infrastructure in West Africa. The privately held, Swiss-Italian group has expanded its container shipping fleet significantly during the supply-chain crisis over the past 18 months and could soon overtake Danish rival Maersk as the world’s largest shipping group. Other shipping lines have also been using their bumper profits accrued because of the supply-chain strains to buy port infrastructure and inland logistics capabilities.