Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, partly owned by the world’s second-biggest container port operator, acquired a Hong Kong box terminal from DP World and a partner as it seeks to benefit from rising trade in the South China region.
Hutchison Port will pay HK$3.2 billion ($515 million) in cash to buy the entire stake in Asia Container Terminal from DP World and a unit of PSA International Pte, it said in a statement today. DP World also sold some other assets in Hong Kong to raise a total of US$742 million, the Dubai-based company said in a separate statement.
The purchase will help Hutchison Port boost capacity at Hong Kong after container volumes gained in the past two years, according to Karen Li, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. DP World is selling its assets in the city as it seeks funds needed for expansion in other markets and shore up its capital.
“Our first take of the deal is that it is positive for Hutchison as this can help resolve its capacity constraints in Hong Kong,” Li said. “Following the stronger-than-expected volume growth over past two years, Hutchison is hitting the capacity bottleneck earliest this year, if current growth pace continues.”
Hutchison Port rose as much as 0.6% to 79 US cents as of 4:10 p.m. in trading. DP World was little changed at US$13.10 as of 12:49 p.m. in Dubai. The stock has gained 12% this year.
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