During the French carrier’s second quarter conference callwith bondholders, finance chief Michel Sirat said the overhaul is “moving forward but not concluded” and hopes to issue an update about talks with “potential liquidity providers” in the weeks to come.
Management admitted to freezing payments to some of its banks after breaking loan covenants during the period but said these have since resumed and, going forward, hopes lenders will agree to tie facilities to gearing ratios instead of Ebitda, a measure that tends to be more volatile.
The company also hinted that “parallel discussions” with French sovereign wealth fund Fonds Strategique d’Investissement (FSI) and affiliates of Turkish investor Yildirim Group about an infusion that could top $250m may be wrapped up by the end of this month or shortly after.
CMA CGM on Monday also outlined plans to sell a 49% stake in 14 terminals controlled by offshootTerminal Link. While price forecasts remain elusive the containership operator said it has already lined up “more than one” potential buyer and expects a deal to be sealed sometime this year.
