LONDON: UPDATE: Britain’s ports and ferries group Peninsular & Oriental today said it has accepted a £3.3bn takeover offer made by Dubai Ports World, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation of Dubai.
The acquisition would end 165 years of independence for the iconic brand representing the world’s fourth largest ports group and would create one of the world’s top three ports group. D P World said it would keep P&O’s London headquarters and Robert Woods, chief executive of P&O will continue to head the new company’s UK business.
As there is little overlap between the two companies, the new company will be operated as a separate entity in the UK. The company also said that there would be no jobs cuts and P&O’s pension fund would be protected.
The Gulf-emirates-backed company had made a full cash offer of 443p-a-share which was at the top end of analysts’ expectations. It also said that there would be no job cuts and the new company would be run as a separate business.
D P World is one of many Gulf-state backed firms that buy overseas assets. It has received letters of intent from P&O major shareholders like Insight Management, Schroders and Threadneedle Asset Management, besides recommendations from P&O directors to confirm the deal.
The iconic P&O, established in 1837, had a thriving cargo business and was acknowledged as the world’s fourth largest container terminal operator with 29 terminal container terminals and logistics operations in more than 100 ports. It also operates a ferry service between Britain and France. In recent years it has had to scale down its operations.
At the start of bidding in October, P&O had said it would be interested in a 460p-a-share offer.
Posted
on : Tue, 29 Nov 2005 13:10 GMT | Business News
By : Mike Lawson
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