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MSC completes acquisition of French Freight Forwarder Clasquin

MSC and French freight forwarder Clasquin have agreed on the terms of an acquisition deal announced in December 2023 which will be completed by MSC subsidiary SAS Shipping Agencies Services Sàrl.

Michele Labrut, Americas Correspondent

March 25, 2024

1 Min Read
A stack of red and yellow shipping containers, some with the MSC logo.
MSC

SAS will acquire a 42% stake in the French forwarder for an estimated $353m (€325m) from its chairman Yves Revol and private equity firm Olymp. The remaining shares will be picked up on the stock market.

Clasquin is a 40-year-old, mid-sized international freight forwarder and overseas logistics company and manages the flow of customer shipments along the transport and logistics chain between France and the rest over the world The company manages shipments both by land and sea to and from Asia- Pacific, North America, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. The Lyon-based firm posted a 2023 turnover of $610.58m, down 35.9% on the previous 12 months, as markets normalised.

One potential area of synergy with MSC’s subsidiaries is likely to be in Africa, with Africa Global Logistics (AGL), formerly Bolloré Africa Logistics. Clasquin could offer AGL its international forwarding network for shipments to and from the continent.

Clasquin has experienced strong growth in Africa in recent years and is in the process of taking full control of its Morocco-based subsidiary, Timar, which is present in several African countries.

CMA CGM recently completed its acquisition of the global operations of Bollore Logistics, and the latest acquisition is one entry in a long list of container lines expanding their role along the supply chain by snapping up freight forwarders, regional companies, and even air logistics assets.

Related:Menace on the Red Sea – MSC rewires entire global network

About the Author

Michele Labrut

Americas Correspondent

Michèle Labrut is a long-time Panama resident, a journalist and correspondent, and has continuously covered the maritime sector of Central & Latin America.

Michèle first came to Panama as a press attaché to the French Embassy and then returned to the isthmus as a foreign correspondent in the 1980s.

Author of Seatrade Maritime's annual Panama Maritime Review magazine and of several books, Michèle also wrote for Time magazine, The Miami Herald, NBC News and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has also collaborated in making several documentaries for the BBC and European and U.S. television networks.

Michèle's profession necessitates a profound knowledge of the country, but her acumen is not from necessity alone, but a genuine passion for Panama.

In 2012 she was awarded the Order of Merit (Knight grade) by the French Government for her services to international journalism and in 2021 the upgrade to Chevalier grade.

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