CMA CGM to form port joint venture with Stonepeak

CMA CGM and U.S. investment firm Stonepeak have agreed to create a joint venture valued at nearly $10 billion to operate and invest in port terminals, including in the United States, the companies said on Wednesday.

CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping group, last year announced plans to invest $20 billion in the United States, winning plaudits from President Donald Trump who has made reviving the U.S. shipping sector a policy priority.

Under the terminal joint venture, Stonepeak will invest $2.4 billion to acquire a 25% minority stake, while CMA CGM will fold in 10 terminals it already controls, including in New York and Los Angeles, the firms said in a statement.

Stonepeak will potentially provide a further $3.6 billion in funding for future joint terminal projects. CMA CGM, meanwhile, will use the $2.4 billion in proceeds from the transaction to invest in growth of its core businesses, according to the statement.

"The creation of United Ports LLC, our joint venture with Stonepeak, marks an important step in the development of our terminal activities in the United States and globally,” Rodolphe Saade, Chairman and CEO of CMA CGM, said in the statement.

The joint venture, expected to close in the second half of this year, was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

The terminals covered by the deal also include facilities in Spain, Brazil, India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Like its shipping rivals, CMA CGM has invested heavily in port terminals to reinforce its access to key routes and to be less reliant on volatile earnings from ocean transport.

The Marseille-based group, privately controlled by the Saade family, has expressed interest in acquiring some of CK Hutchison's ports. The Hong Kong conglomerate has proposed to sell ports, against a backdrop of tensions between Washington and Beijing for control of trade routes, including the Panama Canal.

New York-based Stonepeak has around $80 billion under management with a focus on infrastructure.