On 9 November, Cosco Shipping Europe and Greece-based PEARL S.A. held an agreement signing ceremony for the equity acquisition of PEARL S.A. at the Piraeus Port, Greece. According to the agreement, OceanRail Logistics S.A. affiliated to Cosco Shipping Europe will acquire a 60% stake in PEARL S.A.
OceanRail Logistics S.A. specializes in sea-rail intermodal transport with the Piraeus Port as the hub and related logistics business, while Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics S.A. (PEARL) is a Greece-based company engaged in railway operations.
The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, which starts from the Piraeus Port in Greece and expands to the hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe, covering North Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, is the third new trade corridor from the Far East to Europe and effectively connects the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt. In 2019, over 1,000 runs of trains are estimated to be sent along the China-Europe Land Sea Express Line, with a total freight volume of about 80,000 TEU.
Through this equity acquisition, OceanRail Logistics S.A. will obtain the railway operation qualification in Europe, thus further consolidating the resource development of Cosco Shipping in the railway transport corridor of the China-Europe Land Sea Express Line and improving its railway operation capacity. It will also play an active role in boosting the rapid business development of the Express Line, building a new China-Europe trade corridor and enhancing the position of the Piraeus Port as a container transit port, a bridgehead of land-sea intermodal transport and an international logistics distribution center.
