The diversified group Bolloré announced on Wednesday the finalization of the sale of its logistics activities in Africa to the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC, an operation carried out several months ahead of the initial schedule and which brings in more than 5 billion euros. euros.
"
The sale price of the shares is 5.1 billion euros plus 600 million euros for reimbursement of current accounts
," the group said in a statement.
Bolloré Africa Logistics has infrastructure in many African countries, including a network of sixteen port concessions, warehouses and road and rail hubs.
In 2021, this emblematic branch of the Bolloré group and more profitable than international logistics saw its revenues jump by 8% to 2.2 billion euros.
But, faced with increasingly expensive investments and growing competition from Chinese operators, Vincent Bolloré's group wanted to sell it.
Long before the media, logistics and Africa made the fortune of the Breton businessman who in 1986 took control of the SCAC (Commercial Chartering and Fuel Company) at the time of its privatization.
Bolloré Africa Logistics was also at the heart of corruption scandals in Togo and Guinea for which the group had agreed in 2021 to pay a fine of 12 million euros to French justice and to be followed by the French Anti-Corruption Agency. .
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Vivendi's shareholder group "
will retain a significant presence in Africa, particularly through Canal+, and will also continue its development on this continent in many sectors such as communication, entertainment, telecoms and publishing
", according to its press release.
Based in Geneva, the MSC buyer belongs to the Italian Aponte family and claims a fleet of 560 ships and more than 100,000 employees, with the management of terminals in Singapore, Long Beach (California) or Rotterdam.
