Sech (Terminal Contenitori Porto di Genova) acquired by PSA International

PSA International and Gruppo Investimenti Portuali agreed in 2020 to combine the two main container terminals of the port of Genoa, PSA Genova Prà and Sech, under a single company. Both shareholders already held crossed stakes in the two terminals: PSA owned 65.33% of Prà and 40% of Sech, while GIP held the remaining 34.76% of Prà and 60% of Sech. Each contributed its holdings to a newly formed company, MergeCo, in which PSA took 62% and GIP 38%, giving PSA management control of both terminals. The Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea approved the restructuring unanimously on 22 July 2020, after clearance from the Italian competition authority and a favourable opinion from the State Attorney’s Office. The operation had been examined under Italian port law 84/94, which bars a single terminal operator from holding two concessions of the same type; the State Attorney took the view that the effects of such a concentration should be assessed across a coastal stretch of 200 to 300 kilometres, from Vado to Livorno, rather than within a single port. The two groups had been shareholder partners since 2008, while running the two terminals independently. Together the terminals handled close to 2 million TEU a year, most of it through Prà. Giuseppe Danesi, chairman of PSA Italy, said the combined platform would improve the services offered to shipping lines, shippers and consignees using Genoa, while Stephen Nelson, chairman of GIP and Sech, said the new company’s greater financial and operational resilience would help it weather the economic turbulence of the time.