Yildirim Holding AS, a Turkish container port operator that owns 20 percent of France's CMA CGM SA, has agreed to buy 50 percent of Malta Freeport Terminals from CMA CGM for €200 million, Bloomberg news agency has reported.

The Malta port has a "seriously strategic location" for Yildirim's port operations because of its proximity to France, Italy and North Africa, Chief Financial Officer Evren Ozturk said.

He said he expected the transaction "to close soon, definitely this year."

Yildirim agreed last year to purchase 20 percent of Marseille-based CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping company, for $500 million. The Turkish company, which has three seats on CMA CGM's 10-member executive board, may sell the 20 percent stake after five years through an initial public offering, Ozturk said.

In 2004 CMA CGM received a 30-year concession from Malta's government to operate Malta Freeport, extended in 2008 to 65 years.

 

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