Still In The Shadows: DP World
In February, the Bush Administration approved the sale of a UK-based firm, which operates at least 20 US port facilities, to a United Arab Emirates firm, DP World. The proposal generated a firestorm of protest, resulting in the decision to find a domestic buyer for US operations.
It's nine months later ... and the US facilities remain under the control of DP World, despite a March announcement that they would be sold.
In November, The Business (London) reports that a French firm, the third largest in the world, is "planning an audacious bid for P&O’s ports in the United States." (Data corrected: 8/11 misinterpreted as 11 August instead of 8 November.)
The French firm, CMA CGM, would be a junior partner with investment bank Morgan Stanley. [Why would an investment bank be the lead in this partnership, except to how a US owner?]
In in September, the Financial Times reported that Morgan Stanley (an investor), the Carlyle Group (an investor) and privately-held SSA Marine (the largest US container terminal operator) were among the final bidders in phase two of the sale.
The former P&O assets are among the largest blocks of port assets to have come up for sale in the US in recent years, although the US port assets of Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line are also now up for sale.
There's no more recent mention in Google news, Lexis-Nexis, or the Financial Times. Do you know what's up with this deal? [See comments for additional details.]
Originally posted 9 November at 1 am Eastern