Tag: SNCF

EU launches state aid probe into former SNCF division Sernam

Posted by | Jul 16, 2008 | |

The European Commission said it is launching an investigation into aid granted by the French authorities to Sernam, the former road and rail transport services operator of France’s national railway company, SNCF.

The investigation will focus on the implementation by France of a 2004 commission decision authorising aid of 503 million euros to Sernam, which also required repayment of 41 million euros already received by the company.

The commission has received complaints Sernam was not sold in accordance with the conditions imposed by that same decision and the 41 million euros has not been paid back.

The launching of this in-depth investigation will allow all interested parties to express their points of view. It does not prejudge the Commission’s final decision.

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Geodis supports SNCF takeover bid

Posted by | Apr 28, 2008 | |

Geodis has decided to recommend the EUR 600 million takeover bid from rail operator SNCF to its shareholders. The deal will create Europe’s fourth-largest freight group, including a major express business in France.

The Geodis board said the offer was a fair price and that becoming part of the SNCF group would strengthen Geodis. It unanimously recommended that shareholders should accept the EUR 135 per share offer.

SNCF, which already holds 42.37 pct of Geodis’ share capital and 45.79 pct of voting rights, announced in early April it would offer EUR 600 million to buy full control of Geodis.

SNCF plans to combine Geodis, with 2007 revenues of EUR 4.8 billion, its rail freight division and several smaller transport subsidiaries, into a new group with 2008 revenues of some EUR 8 billion and about 50,000 employees. The new company would include Geodis Calberson, one of the leading express and parcels operators in France.

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SNCF may spend another 2 bln to 3 bln euros after Geodis acquisition – chairman

Posted by | Apr 7, 2008 | |

SNCF may spend another 2 billion to 3 billion euros on investments on top of the 600 million it is offering to pay for shares it does not already own in Geodis, Guillaume Pepy, chairman of the state-owned railway operator, told Le Figaro newspaper.

He plans further acquisitions, including an imminent one in Europe, and he is interested in port services to complete the company’s offering, Pepy said in an interview with the daily.

‘In a few days we will announce the acquisition of a continental European rail operator, which will open the door for us to new countries, notably Eastern Europe,’ he said.

The acquisition of Geodis, in which SNCF currently owns 42.37 percent, will make the transport of goods the group’s biggest division in terms of sales, Pepy said.

SNCF-Geodis will be among the world’s top five logistics groups, behind Deutsche Post AG unit DHL, Deutsche Bahn and Kuehne & Nagel International AG, the SNCF chairman said.

The Geodis deal will lift SNCF’s debt to equity ratio from 0.5 to 0.6, which is still only one-third of the level of Deutsche Bahn, and the imminent acquisition will not fundamentally alter those figures, he said.

‘That means we can still envisage profitable investments of 2 billion to 3 billion euros,’ Pepy said.

Shares in Geodis soared 30 percent today after Pepy unveiled that SNCF plans to offer 135 euros per share for the rest of the transport company.

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Kühne & Nagel reported interested in Sernam

Posted by | Mar 20, 2008 | |

Kühne & Nagel is interested in acquiring loss-making French parcels and cargo company Sernam, according to a recent report in Les Echos newspaper.

The Swiss-based group wants to build up a land transport network in France and has held talks to take over the former SNCF parcels subsidiary, which was sold to private investor Butler Capital Partners at the start of 2007. Sernam has a network of 50 depots across France.

According to Les Echos, KN would take over the 48.2% stake held by managing director Philippe Chevalier, while Butler Capital Partners would retain its 51.8% majority holding.

Sernam succeeded in reducing its losses last year to EUR 13 million from EUR 23 million in 2006 on revenues of EUR 368 million. The newspaper cited a source as saying the company is now virtually debt-free, and was expected to break even this year and move into profit in 2009.

Kühne & Nagel declined to comment on the report, which it described as a “rumour”. But Les Echos pointed out that the Swiss group was known to want to extend its European land transport network.

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High speed French mail train gathers pace

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Mail and other goods could soon find their way on to the high speed rail network in France.

Fret DV is a venture aimed at establishing a high speed rail freight operation in France. The company was formed in 2006 between SNCF and La Poste, the French postal service. Already, trains operate between Paris, Mâcon and Cavaillon and Fret DV is now considering expanding operations to take in Rennes and Bordeaux. Other possible destinations include Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Lille.

The high speed service could benefit rival postal operators as the final phase of mail deregulation draws closer. The UK withdrew its mail train but reinstated part of its rail operations in more recent years. Increased road fuel costs have begun to make high speed trains a viable way to transport mail and goods.

Fret GV could be moving 150,oo tonnes of high vale freight by 2009, ahead of the final phase of postal liberalisation although for now, lorries still provide the cheapest way to transport goods.

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