Cosco subsidiary acquires major stake in Greek rail logistics company
ΟceanRail Logistics, part of China’s Cosco Shipping Group, has acquired a 60% equity stake in Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics (PEARL) as part of its plan to further develop its intermodal transport service network.
PEARL provides rail logistics support and other freight forwarding services from Port of Piraeus to other parts of Greece. The acquisition is expected to further expand Cosco’s rail logistics network in Europe.
Cosco, the state-run carrier of China, established ΟceanRail Logistics at the end of 2017 as a Sino-European sea-rail transportation platform to further implement the country’s Belt and Road initiative. Cosco expects ΟceanRail Logistics to complete a container transport volume of 80,000 teu this year.
Cosco has recently kicked off a EUR600m ($660.7m) expansion and upgrading project for Port of Piraeus and the port secured a EUR140m ($154.5m) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) this week to support the project.
