Linklaters advises Meridiam and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) on the acquisition of APM Terminals Mauritanie (APMTM) by Terminal à Conteneurs de Nouakchott (TCN) from APM[...]

Linklaters advised Meridiam and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) on the acquisition of APM Terminals Mauritanie (APMTM), a major player in port handling in Mauritania, by Terminal à Conteneurs de Nouakchott (TCN) from APM Terminals (Maersk group).

Terminal à Conteneurs de Nouakchott (TCN), equally owned by Meridiam and Africa Finance Corporation, completed the acquisition of APM Terminals Mauritanie (APMTM) at the end of December 2023 from APM Terminals (Maersk group).

APMTM carries out port handling activities for container and bulk carriers at the Autonomous Port of Nouakchott known as "Port of Friendship" (PANPA) and the Autonomous Port of Nouadhibou, the two main ports in Mauritania. Today, APMTM represents, alongside TCN, a major player in port handling in Mauritania and actively contributes to the growth of port traffic and the country's economic development.

Since April 2022, TCN has been operating a large container and hydrocarbon terminal at the Port of Nouakchott as part of the first public-private partnership established in Mauritania and international project financing in the infrastructure sector, representing an investment in debt and equity of more than 300 million dollars, on which the Paris office also intervened on behalf of the TCN company.

Through this acquisition, TCN and its two shareholders Meridiam and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) intend to strengthen their activities in Mauritania at the service of Mauritanian exporters and importers and continue their investment efforts in the modernisation of equipment and services at the Ports of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou.

The Linklaters team was led by Nicolas Le Guillou, Corporate/M&A partner, and Aymeric Voisin, Energy & Infrastructure counsel, with the help of Aubry Lémeret, senior associate and Louise Allard, associate, on the Corporate/M&A aspects and Athanase de Guitaut, associate, on the regulatory side. Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson, Antitrust partner, was in charge of competition law matters with Maëlys Duval, associate.