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DUBAI—DP
World, the third-biggest container port operator, may
bid for Egypt’s Sokhna Port at the southern entrance of
the Suez Canal after owner Orascom Construction
Industries said last month it’s trying to sell the
asset.
Sokhna
“is one of the many ports all over the world that we are
looking at, the same as other ports in China, and other
ports in Africa,” Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of
Dubai-based DP World, said in a telephone interview late
Wednesday.
Orascom
asked Deutsche Bank AG to seek bids for about $1 billion
for Sokhna Port Development Co., the company said
September 4.
Sokhna Port,
located on the Red Sea, is approximately 85-percent
controlled by Cairo-based Orascom and Sokhna chief
executive officer Ossama al-Sharif.
Toll
roads, airports and ports have attracted bids from
construction companies, buyout firms and pension funds,
all keen to tap a steady flow of earnings. A group led
by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to buy Associated
British Ports Holdings Plc for $5.6 billion in June last
year. The bid trumped an offer from a group led by
Macquarie Bank Ltd.
“DP
World has shown itself to be a very determined player in
the international port sector and this looks like
another example of a very aggressive expansion
strategy,” said Tim Power, a director at Drewry Shipping
Consultants in London.
Sokhna
has four terminals for containers, general cargo,
fertilizer and bulk materials, according to the port’s
web site.
The
current annual value of takeovers in the marine and
shipbuilding industry, at $36.8 billion, is more than
two-thirds higher than in 2004, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
DP
World, which last year bought Peninsular & Oriental
Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion, plans to spend
about $3.5 billion on projects over the next five years,
CEO Mohammed Sharaf said in June. The company seeks to
double handling capacity to 84 million 20-foot container
units a year by 2016 to catch up with bigger rivals
Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd. and PSA International Pte.
DP World
sold
US
assets acquired from P&O under pressure from US
lawmakers who cited security concerns. It intends to buy
or expand port facilities in China and India as trade
booms in the world’s two fastest-growing economies, bin
Sulayem said in July.
The
company aims to raise as much as $3.5 billion in a share
sale that may begin next month, two people with
knowledge of the plan said Wednesday.
“The
investment community as a whole has shown itself to be
interested in the ports business over the last few years
and this will be an opportunity for people to invest in
a leading global player with big plans for growth,”
Power said.
DP World
aims to sell as much as 30 percent of its shares to the
public to help pay for the expansion, according to the
people, who declined to be identified because the
proposal is private. The sale needs the approval of
United Arab Emirates ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
al-Maktoum, they said.
The
shares will be listed on the Dubai International
Financial Exchange and may also be offered on the London
Stock Exchange, the people said.
---Bloomberg |
