Jacques Saade, who has just turned 80 and who established the firm in 1978 after leaving Lebanon, his country of birth, retains his role of board chairman, CMA CGM said in a statement on Wednesday.
The appointment of Rodolphe Saade, previously vice chairman, as CEO crowns his rise in the group after he led negotiations in 2015 to buy Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a $2.4 billion (1.92 billion pounds) deal that marked CMA CGM's biggest-ever acquisition.
The NOL takeover has formed part of CMA CGM's efforts to withstand a prolonged downturn in container shipping, which has also triggered other consolidation deals in the industry.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
