Home Media Press releases Negotiations are under way between Bolloré Transport & Logistics and the MARITIME KUHN group with a view to the sale of Bolloré Ports France

Negotiations are under way between Bolloré Transport & Logistics and the MARITIME KUHN group with a view to the sale of Bolloré Ports France

France. 27 March 2019

Bolloré Transport & Logistics and the MARITIME KUHN Group have started exclusive negotiations with a view to the takeover of the French port activities of Bolloré Transport & Logistics by the MARITIME KUHN Group.

Unions have been previously informed of and consulted on this project. It could come into effect during the third quarter of 2019 once all social, legal and administrative procedures have been settled.

The project will also be subject to the usual condition precedents applicable to this type of operation, namely all authorisations required by law and regulations.

This operation, involving the pooling of two highly complementary networks in geographic terms, should, with its 620 employees, create a benchmark French player in the port industry in France.

The combination of different fields of expertise, the extent of the French coastline and the optimisation of investments would allow the MARITIME KUHN Group to satisfy customers’ requirements through this new project. With this new high-potential structure, the 320 employees of Bolloré Ports France would roll out their know-how alongside the 300 employees of the MARITIME KUHN Group.

Bolloré Ports France specialises in port handling and is present in 15 French ports. Its expertise enables it to offer customised services including conventional handling, ship consignment, transit and customs, storage, bagging and chartering. For Bolloré Transport & Logistics, this operation falls within the scope of its strategy to refocus its port handling and logistics operations in international markets where the Group is already established, in particular in West Africa.

The MARITIME KUHN Group is a family-run business, set up more than 70 years ago in Brittany. It is a recognised stakeholder in the French port industry, specialising in a range of services to ships: handling, consignment, transit, customs, storage and transport organisation.

Stéphane Courcoux

CEO of Bolloré Ports France

“This project between two Brittany-based groups, each with their own strong entrepreneurial culture, is a real opportunity for the rapidly evolving French port industry. While major customers (shippers, industrial and logistics companies, etc.) are tending to concentrate their forces, this operation will reinforce current organisational structures, promote investment and build on the expertise of the 320 employees of Bolloré Ports France”

Messrs. KUHN

“Our networks are complementary and bringing them together will create a comprehensive range of services in France, supported by unrivalled expertise in the port industry, in line with the development strategy of our family-run group”

About the MARITIME KUHN Group

MARITIME KUHN is a family-run group, operating in the French port industry for more than 70 years and headed by three of the founders’ sons. Established in a dozen or so ports, the group offers the full range of services to ships: consignment, handling, transit, customs, storage, shipping agency and transport planning. MARITIME HUHN is known for offering peerless shipping expertise for all types of traffic. www.maritimekuhn.com

Bolloré Transport & Logistics
Cindy PATAN, press officer
T +33 1 46 96 49 75 / +33 7 72 40 49 75
cindy.patan(at)bollore.com

 

MARITIME KUHN Group
François-Georges KUHN
T +33 5 46 00 61 80
Fg.kuhn(at)maritimekuhn.com