In a hard-hitting press statement, Mistral Holdings has questioned the operations, especially those offshore, of Jacques Saade, the owner of CMA-CGM, and asked if such operations would be permitted in France.

It quoted subsidiary companies set up in Liberia, Panama, the Virgin Islands, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Among other charges, it questioned how Mr Saade, through his personal company Merit France SA, could hold 10 per cent of Terminal Link Sam, which owns Malta Freeport Terminal Ltd – the operator of Malta’s Freeport and in which CMA-CGM SA already holds 90 per cent of the ownership.