CMA CGM and La Poste Group join forces
According to the latest news, CMA CGM Group, the world’s third-largest shipping company, and its subsidiary CEVA Logistics and GeoPost, a subsidiary of La Poste Group, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to provide services in parcel delivery and close cooperation in transport and storage. The agreement aims to create a closer business relationship between the two logistics companies and aims to leverage their respective areas of expertise, services, and operations.
Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of CMA CGM, commented: “I am very pleased with this partnership with La Poste, which allows two French leaders to combine their expertise to strengthen each other. La Poste will be able to rely on our international network and the expertise of our subsidiary CEVA Logistics in certain key business areas, just as we will be able to rely on theirs.”
GeoPost is one of Europe’s leading parcel delivery companies, delivering 2.1 billion parcels globally in 2021 through its extensive European network of more than 1,200 hubs and warehouses, more than 86,000 vehicles, and more than 120,000 logistics experts. With 1,300 sites in 170 countries, CEVA Logistics provides contract logistics, freight forwarding, and road transport services. The new agreement between GeoPost and CEVA Logistics also includes the development of new circular economy and urban logistics services in France and Europe, aimed at improving the quality and competitiveness of services offered to customers. The companies will work together to reduce the carbon impact of deliveries, including low-carbon urban deliveries.
CMA CGM Group has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, while La Poste Group has been carbon neutral since 2012, committing to a 30% reduction in carbon emissions per parcel between 2013 and 2025. CEVA Logistics, part of CMA CGM, recently announced the creation of a Finished Vehicle Logistics (FVL) organization as part of its acquisition and integration of GEFCO. The move comes just months after CEVA bought the French auto logistics giant in July 2022.
Founded in 1931, La Méridionale is a subsidiary of the French STEF Group. STEF has owned La Meridionale for decades, but the wider group is known for its core business as a cold chain company, involved in refrigerated transport, trucking, food storage, and packaging. Its long-term strategy is to become the European leader in refrigerated food transport and logistics. La Méridionale currently has 600 employees and 4 mixed cargo ships, which operate the route from Marseille to Corsica and Morocco, with 13 weekly sailings between Marseille and Corsica. If the acquisition goes through, it would mark CMA CGM’s first return to passenger ship operations since the sale of the luxury ship Ponant in 2015.
