Cma Cgm has decided not to take part in the process to acquire a minority stake in Rail Logistics Europe (Rle), the rail freight division of French state-owned group Sncf. The sale, covering up to 49% of the capital, has been valued at up to €800m by investment bank Lazard, which is managing the partial privatisation process. Following the withdrawal of the Marseille-based group, three bidders remain in the running: Czech group Ep Group, linked to entrepreneur Daniel Křetínský, German logistics group Rhenus and an as yet unidentified investment fund.
The transaction stems from a commitment made by Sncf to the European Commission to close a procedure over state aid deemed incompatible with competition rules, which the former Fret Sncf is estimated to have received for an amount of around €5.3bn. In return, Paris agreed to restructure and partially open up the capital of the freight division, leading to the creation of Rle on 1 January 2025. Sncf will nonetheless retain a majority stake, remaining above the 50% threshold, and according to the French newspaper L’Informé, is ready to offer the incoming investor a role in the company’s management, a factor that increases its strategic value. The selection process, managed by Lazard, is expected to continue until the end of 2026.
Rle brings together the rail freight and logistics activities of the Sncf group under six brands: Hexafret for domestic rail freight, Technis for rolling stock maintenance, Captrain for international services, Forwardis for multimodal industrial logistics, Naviland Cargo for containerised intermodal transport and Viia for rolling motorways to Spain and Italy. In the first half of 2026, the company generated revenue of €948m, up 3.9% year on year, with Ebitda rising to €118m from €110m a year earlier and its margin increasing from 12% to 12.5%.
Daniel Křetínský, through Ep Group, has expanded his presence in European logistics in recent years: in 2025 he acquired International Distribution Services, the holding company that controls the British postal service Royal Mail and delivery operator Gls, and also holds a stake in Dutch postal company PostNL. Rhenus, based in Holzwickede, Germany, closed 2025 with revenue of €8.2bn and around 39,000 employees. The group is controlled by the Rethmann family, which last year acquired a majority stake in Transdev, the French operator also active in rail transport. No name or details of the offer have been disclosed for the third candidate, an investment fund.
Cma Cgm’s interest in Rle emerged at the start of the year, when Bloomberg identified the shipping group, together with Maersk and Dsv, among the parties approached by Sncf during the exploratory phase of the transaction. In the following months, Cma Cgm had established itself as the frontrunner, helped by the vertical integration strategy it had already pursued through the acquisitions of Ceva Logistics, Bolloré Logistics and, in early 2026, Freightliner Uk Intermodal Logistics. The company explained its withdrawal by saying that the Rle project is no longer aligned with the group’s current investment priorities. In the most recent shortlist of candidates reported by L’Informé, the interest of Maersk and Msc is described as more speculative, while Dsv no longer appears among the recognised contenders. An industry source quoted by The Loadstar also pointed to the military implications of the matter, given that Rle is said to handle a significant share of transport for the French armed forces, estimated at around 80% of the total. Neither Ep Group, Rhenus nor Sncf has so far commented publicly on the status of the process.
Antonio Illariuzzi
