Investor Docks at Port

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A Swedish investment fund has agreed to acquire the third-largest terminal at L.A.-area ports from French shipping line CMA CGM for $817 million in cash, with plans to invest in equipment and technology upgrades.

EQT Infrastructure III Fund, which is an arm of investment firm EQT Infrastructure, will own 90 percent of Global Gateway South at the Port of Los Angeles, the companies announced last week. CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company by capacity, will retain a 10 percent stake in the terminal at Pier 300.

“The acquisition of GGS fits perfectly with EQT Infrastructure’s focused sector approach of targeting high-quality, well-located logistics assets with transformation potential,” Lennart Blecher, an investment adviser to the fund, said in a statement.

The GGS terminal spans nearly 300 acres, moving 1.65 million 20-foot-equivalent containers (TEUs) annually. The facility has three berths and is home to other shipping lines that unload cargo including South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine, German- and Chilean-based Hapag-Lloyd and Japan’s NYK Line.

EQT said it has partnered with port infrastructure investment firm P5 Infrastructure to create a plan to improve capacity and efficiency at GGS by investing in cranes, other handling equipment and technology.

The terminal operates under a long-term concession that runs through 2043 and is on track to handle more than 1 million containers this year, EQT said.

CMA CGM also calls at the Port of Long Beach, where it operates out of Pier J, said Lee Peterson, spokesman for the port.

CMA CGM said the sale would help pay down its debt after its 2015 acquisition of Singapore shipping company Neptune Orient Lines for $2.4 billion. It acquired the L.A. terminal through that deal.

The EQT transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

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