Swissterminal banks on France
Swissterminal Group, which is headquartered in Swiss Frenkendorf, has opened up new opportunities across the French border and is investing in the three inland ports Ottmarsheim, Huningue-Village-Neuf and Ile Napoléon in the French province of Alsace.
After having won the international tender issued by the French authorities, Swissterminal will take over the ports' operations in the course of 2021. The international operator is now forming the new company Alsaceterminal as a wholly owned affiliate to manage the three ports.
The legal and supporting backbone will be the newly established company called Alsaceteam, a joint venture with the French seaports of Le Havre and Marseille-Fos.
As part of this public-private partnership, Alsaceteam will take 39% equity in Euro Rhine Ports, the successor of the former publicly owned port company Ports de Mulhouse Rhin. Euro Rhine Ports is the new concessionaire of the ports of Ottmarsheim, Huningue-Village-Neuf and Ile Napoléon.
The new operator Alsaceterminal will integrate the current employees in the three locations. Lionel Husser will serve as CEO of Alsaceterminal, following a ten-year career managing the container terminals at the Port Autonome de Strasbourg and four years as general deputy manager of the Alsatian subsidiary of Group Charles Andre (GCA).
Roman Mayer, chairman of the board of directors at Swissterminal, said that “compared to the small Kleinhueningen terminal in Basel, the possibilities for development are endless.” DP World has held a 44% stake in Swissterminal since January 2020. (cd)