LDA makes formal offer for SeaFrance

French shipping conglomerate Louis Dreyfus Armateurs said today that it had submitted a "formal and engaging" offer for French Dover Strait ferry operator SeaFrance. LDA announced last week that it planned to bid for the struggling ferry operator as part of a plan to merge it with its own ro-ro and ferry subsidiary LD Lines. SeaFrance's owner, French national rail operator SNCF, declined to confirm that it was in contact with LDA last week, however, saying only that it had received no offer for the company. LDA general manager Pierre Géhanne said yesterday that this was no longer the case. "They have since received a formal and engaging offer," he said. He added that LDA had no formal timetable for completing a deal with SNCF but that he considered that agreement would need to be concluded within the next month. "I do not know if it will be concluded," he said, "but I do not see why it should not." In the absence of an agreement with LDA or another buyer, SeaFrance intends to proceed with a major cost-cutting programme which will result in the reduction of its 1,700-strong workforce by more than a third and the withdrawal of two of the five ships it currently has in service. LDA has indicated that it believes that it can minimise job losses through a merger between LD Lines and SeaFrance under the SeaFrance name.

Dover - Calais

1 x Foot Passenger(s) Return

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13/03/2012 - 13/03/2012

£13

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Dover - Calais

Car + 2 Return

Travelling on:

12/03/2012 - 12/03/2012

£20

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Dover - Calais

Car + 4 Return

Travelling on:

12/03/2012 - 12/03/2012

£19

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