Business | Shipping
DP World buys 48.5% stake in Africa port firm
DP World, which manages a container terminal in Mozambique in southeastern Africa, said on Monday it has bought a 48.5 per cent stake in a firm that controls the Port of Maputo.
- By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:25 January 8, 2008
Dubai: DP World, which manages a container terminal in Mozambique in southeastern Africa, said on Monday it has bought a 48.5 per cent stake in a firm that controls the Port of Maputo.
The world's third largest port operator, which raised $4.96 billion in the Gulf's biggest share sale in November and listed the shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, said in a statement it is paying $32 million for the acquisition.
In its existing business, DP World took over the container terminal at Maputo Port after it bought P&O in 2006 and controls 60 per cent of Maputo International Port Services (MIPS), which has held the lease of the 100,000-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container unit) per year capacity facility since March 1996.
The Mozambique Ports and Railways Company holds the remaining 40 per cent stake in MIPS.
Main transit point
DP World chief executive officer Mohammad Sharaf said Maputo is one of the main transit points for goods into the southern African region and his company was interested in handling both container and general cargo.
"We plan to invest further in container handling facilities there but we also believe there is potential to grow commodity traffic," he said.
The Dubai company acquired a new stake in the Maputo port by buying 48.5 per cent of Portus Indico-Sociedade de Servicos Portuarios, which owns 51 per cent of Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC).
In turn, MPDC holds the concession for the overall Port of Maputo until 2018, extendable by another 10 years, according to a DP World statement.
The Mozambique government holds the remaining 49 per cent share interest in MPDC.
DP World's partners in Portus Indico are Grindrod International Limited, which holds another 48.5 per cent, and Mozambique Gestores, which controls the remaining three per cent.
"We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in Maputo.
"The port is the backbone of the economy and we look forward to helping develop the infrastructure there," Sharaf said.
He said the company's Portus Indico partners are "experienced and professional operators" in the market.
DP World's shares closed 2.48 per cent lower at $1.18 in Monday's trading. Some 8.2 million shares were traded on the day.
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