APL is to acquire the book of business of its sister company Cheng Lie Navigation Company.

According to APL, the acquisition will enable it to consolidate all of its intra-Asia business under the CNC brand to be operated from Singapore, retaining both sales networks and all sales channels.

“This strategic move will enable us to become the intra-Asia champion with the most comprehensive market connectivity in the Far East,” said Nicolas Sartini, chief executive officer of APL. “With complementary market footprints, the combined portfolio of services is set to shore up our relevance in the economically thriving Asia through the CNC brand ahead.”

There are currently 15 APL and 50 CNC services every week serving the key markets from North Asia to Southeast Asia along the Far East corridor.

CNC has a significant presence in key Asian markets including Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

“We have ambitious volume targets and market development plans for intra-Asia that we will seek organically and via strategic acquisitions,” Sartini said. “As the intra-Asia specialist, we will continue to customize our portfolio of services according to shippers’ demand and where the markets will shift tomorrow.”

CNC was purchased by the CMA CGM Group in 2007.