Ferry News Archive
SNCM partner quits to join rival
Date: 09 Aug 2006 00:00 Source: Lloyds ListNewly privatised French Mediterranean ferry operator SNCM has seen its long-time partner Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation quit to join forces with rival Corsica Ferries.
The new pairing will now bid for the concession on subsidised ferry services between the French mainland and the island of Corsica, a major setback for SNCM’s prospects.
CMN and Corsica Ferries indicated that they had not made a joint bid but had co-ordinated their separate bids for the concession, which is due to come into force at the start of next year.
CMN, which shares the existing five-year concession with SNCM, confirmed that it would not be bidding for the new concession with its traditional partner, apparently in the belief that the new owners of SNCM were intent on taking CMN over rather than continuing to co-operate with it.
According to a report yesterday, however, SNCM, which has been managed by Veolia Transport since it was privatised at the end of May, has accused CMN majority shareholder Stef-TFE of breaching a shareholder pact between them and indicated that it is ready to go to court to gain control of the company.
In the absence of a renewal of its partnership with CMN, SNCM has given notice of its intention to bid for the concession alone, although it seems unlikely that it can obtain it without CMN’s three ro-pax vessels.
News of the break-up of SNCM’s partnership with CMN follows the revelation at the end of last month that the European Commission is planning to investigate the €181m ($232m) recapitalisation of SNCM by the French government under the terms of the company’s recent privatisation.
The revelation provoked concerns that, in the event that the French government is sanctioned by the commission, SNCM could find itself deprived of the resources it would need to meet its obligations under the terms of the concession.
Corsica Ferries, which is controlled by the Lota family and claims to be the only ferry operator based in Corsica, said that it had submitted separate bids on its own account for each of the main lines covered by the public service ferry concession, claiming that it could save the Corsican authorities € 30m per year in relation to the existing concession.
It said that it had nevertheless agreed to make a co-ordinated bid at the same with CMN to comply with the Corsican Assembly’s stated preference for an all-in package offer.
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