Hamburg – French shipping company CMA CGM merged its MacAndrews and OPDR subsidiaries at the end of last year, both of which specialise in short-sea routes within Europe. The merger created a new company headquartered in Hamburg under the MacAndrews name with effect from 1 January 2018.

An international CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Eckart Gottschalk advised MacAndrews GmbH on all legal aspects of the merger.

OPDR mainly covers Central and Northern Europe, Spain including the Canary Isles, as well as Portugal and Morocco. CMS Germany previously advised the CMA CGM Group on the acquisition of OPDR in 2015.

As Europe’s oldest shipping line, MacAndrews was acquired in 2002 by CMA CGM. The line provides transport services by sea, land and rail, connecting markets in the UK, the Iberian Peninsula and Poland.

The intra-European short-sea and inland operations of the MacAndrews and OPDR subsidiaries are being brought together under the MacAndrews brand. The merger enables the CMA CGM Group to further consolidate and expand its multimodal portfolio in Europe. The new MacAndrews company is represented in 16 countries through 36 agencies and 18 services and has a headcount of 595 people.

CMS Germany

Dr Eckart Gottschalk, Lead Partner
Dr Charlotte Dobers-Koch, Senior Associate
Dr Levent Hancioglu, Associate, all Corporate
Dr Daniel Ludwig, Partner
Sünye Akay, Associate, both Employment

CMS Belgium

Gaël Chuffart, Partner, Employment

CMS Netherlands

Cecilia van der Weijden, Partner
Christian Delgado, Counsel, both Corporate
Katja van Kranenburg-Hanspians, Partner
Tjeerd Hoekstra, Associate, both Employment

CMS Portugal

José Luís Arnaut, Managing Partner
João Caldeira, Partner
Tiago Valente de Oliveira, Associate, all Corporate
Sofia Mateus, Partner
Sara Chiappe Homem Nolasco, Associate, both Employment

CMS Spain

Luis Miguel de Dios, Partner
Tobías Kálnay, Associate, both Corporate
Elena Esparza Alejo, Counsel, Employment

CMS UK

Martin Mendelssohn, Partner
Farrah Kiyani, Associate, both Corporate
Graham Paul, Partner
Laura Allner, Senior Associate, both Employment

CMA CGM Group Inhouse Team

Dr Sven Alexander Hille, Managing Director, MacAndrews GmbH
Oscar Ortega Ermisch, Legal Counsel, MacAndrews GmbH