The two biggest players on the Russias market will merge into one giant entity when container operator Global Ports acquires NCC Group. London-based Global Ports says in a statement that the company has completed the massive transaction to acquire NCC Group.
Furthermore, Global Ports confirms to ShippingWatch that the approvals the company has been waiting for since the deal was announced on September 2nd this year have also been secured.
Thus Global Ports, which is partially owned by APM Terminals, now controls nine container terminals in the Baltic Sea and the Far East, handling a total of four million teu. The acquisition - which creates Russia's by far biggest container terminal operator - was met with skepticism by market interests, who have pointed out that it was unlikely that authorities would approve an operator of that size.
Reduced stake
The transaction is financed with a USD 238 million loan, aimed at reducing the interest rate on an NCC loan, and by issuing new shares for the NCC ownership. This means that the share capital is expanded, and that the former shareholders - including the Maersk Group's APM Terminals - will see their stake reduced. In the case of APM Terminals, the company's stake is reduced from 36 percent to 31 percent.
Going forward, the distribution of shares in Global Ports is as follows:
- - APM Terminals: 30.75 percent;
- - N-Trans: 30.75 percent;
- - Free float: 20.5 percent;
- - Ilibrinio Establishment Limited: 9 percent;
- - Polozio Enterprises Limited: 9 percent
Global Ports is now among the Top 20 container terminal operators in the world.
Global Ports acquires major Russian competitor
Drewry: Global ports acquisition creates major Baltic player
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