July 6, 2017
Paris and New York offices represent CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company in transaction; purchase price sets the enterprise value of APL at $875 million.
On June 30, Willkie client CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company, announced its agreement to sell a 90 percent stake in APL Limited (APL) to the EQT Infrastructure III fund. APL owns Eagle Marine Services, Ltd., the concession company that operates Global Gateway South (GGS), a leading container terminal in the Port of Los Angeles. The transaction is subject to the approval of antitrust authorities as well as CFIUS. The purchase price sets the enterprise value of APL at $875 million. As part of the sale, CMA CGM will enter into a long-term volume and call commitment and terminal services agreement, which will allow APL to retain CMA CGM and certain of its subsidiaries as GGS’s largest customer.
The Port of Los Angeles, together with the Port of Long Beach, form the largest gateway in North America for growing transpacific trade flows. GGS is the third largest terminal in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in terms of capacity, and operates under a long-term concession that runs through 2043. The terminal provides intermodal container handling services to shipping lines including stevedoring, intermodal/truck services, storage and maintenance, and is on track to handle over one million containers in 2017. GGS benefits from a waterfront location and berth depth that enables the terminal to accommodate the latest and future generations of large container ships.
Willkie’s Paris and New York offices advised CMA CGM with teams led by partners Daniel Hurstel, Annette Peron and Russell Leaf, counsel Jared Fertman and associates David Lambert, Jeffrey Daniel, James Rosenthal, Thomas Saint-Loubert-Bie and Liza Scemama on corporate aspects; partner Anthony Carbone and associate Edward Torres on tax matters; and national partner Brice Pommiès and partner Jeffrey Goldfarb on financing aspects. Antitrust matters were handled by national partner Adrien Giraud and counsel Jonathan Konoff. Willkie’s Washington office also took part in the transaction, with CFIUS matters handled by counsel Russell Smith and associate Noman Goheer and environmental matters handled by counsel William Thomas and associate Annise Maguire. Partners Jeffrey Clark and David Mortlock and associate Benjamin Shapiro assisted in FCPA and OFAC matters.
