CONTAINER shipping line CMA CGM has completed the acquisition of the intermodal and logistics business of British freight operator Freightliner. The terms of the deal announced on January 29 were not disclosed.
Following the acquisition by the French group, Freightliner will remain a standalone business offering intermodal and logistics services to customers in the British market.
The purchase was announced in September. It includes Freightliner’s British rail and road operations, 10 inland terminals, around 1.4 million train paths, and 2000 wagons along with the Freightliner brand.
“By combining our deep UK rail expertise with CMA CGM’s maritime reach and global logistics capabilities, we are building a more resilient, integrated and future-ready supply chain for our customers,” says Chris Lawrenson, CEO of Freightliner.
Heavy Haul Rail
Freightliner’s other businesses, Heavy Haul Rail, Rotterdam Rail Feeding, and Freightliner Poland andGermany, will remain under their existing ownership as subsidiaries of Genesee & Wyoming, United States.
Heavy Haul Rail announced its launch as a new company focused on the British bulk freight market on January 29. The company will also offer support services for the renewal and maintenance of rail infrastructure and support for passenger operators and rolling stock leasing companies, including the provision of drivers and route conducting services.
The company operates 95 locomotives and more than 1000 wagons, running 250 trains a week and serving more than 100 locations across Britain.
“The sale of the Freightliner name and intermodal business has presented a unique opportunity to build something new by relaunching Heavy Haul as a new company,” says Dave Penney, managing director of Heavy Haul Rail. “Our goal is to support industries, communities and the economy by moving more of Britain’s bulk freight from congested roads, to clean, high-capacity rail.”
CMA CGM is headquartered in Marseille, France, and employs 29,000 people around the world. This includes 7200 staff across maritime, logistics and inland services in Britain. It carried 802,000 TEU to and from Britain in 2024 and moved 200,000 TEU by rail and road in the first half of 2025.
Freightliner was founded as a subsidiary of state-owned British Rail in the 1960s. It was privatised in the 1990s and sold to a management buyout (MBO) team, and later acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2015. Genesee & Wyoming itself was acquired by a consortium of Brookfield Infrastructure and the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC in December 2019 for $US 8.4bn.
