The deal was unveiled by the two companies on Tuesday.
Concretely, CMA CGM will subscribe for 10 million euros of convertible bonds of Brittany Ferries and will lend 15 million to the Breton company, repayable after five to eight years, specified Mr. Roué.
Read also Brittany Ferries sinks a little deeper into the crisis
This new money (25 million euros) will not be too much for Brittany Ferries who, hit by the pandemic, must repay a state guaranteed loan of 117 million euros.
It circulates boats between Roscoff (Finistère), Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine), Cherbourg (Manche), Caen Ouistreham (Calvados) and Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) on the one hand, the south of the England and Ireland on the other hand, and also between Ireland, England and Spain.
But Brittany Ferries sank into the red during the crisis, with a turnover divided by 2.3 last year and a year 2021 "
as bad or even worse than 2020
", according to Mr. Roué.
After carrying 750,000 passengers last year, the company is expected to welcome 530,000 this year, up from 2.5 million in 2019, he noted.
However, he hopes for "
a recovery
" next year, the figure for reservations for 2022 being according to him already "
well oriented
".
On the contrary, CMA CGM, long in the red, is taking full advantage of the overheating of maritime transport created by the Covid-19 crisis, with a net profit approaching $ 3.5 billion in the second quarter of 2021 alone.
Commercial partnership
Brittany Ferries President Jean-Marc Roué welcomed this agreement.
"
CMA CGM, the leading French shipping company, is supporting us,
" he told AFP.
"
It is clear that with this commitment, CMA CGM validates our recovery plan and our business plan over five years
", which could facilitate discussions "
with other potential investors
".
The gigantic Marseille ship-owner will send a representative to the supervisory board of Brittany Ferries, "
but there is no ambition for the CMA CGM house to be ad vitam aeternam in the capital of a tourism company
", noted the manager.
The agreement also provides for a "
business partnership
" which will promote the use of the cargo space available on board Brittany Ferries vessels serving the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula. The two companies will also share their experience in the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to propel ships, in particular "
on the themes of the training of French crews and safety procedures
".
