Three ports in China to consolidate in $324m deal
The three largest ocean-going ports in China’s southwestern Guangxi province will unite in a Yuan2.22bn ($324m) deal between Shenzhen-listed Beihai Port Co and state-owned Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group (GBGIPG).
BPC said on Friday it would buy a 70% stake in Fangcheng Port Group and 100% of Qinzhou Port Group, which are together worth Yuan2.22bn, from GBGIPG.
The purchase will group together the Beihai, Fangcheng and Qinzhou ports in southwest China’s Beibu Gulf.
The Shenzhen-listed port developer will issue 288m additional shares at Yuan7.71 apiece to GBGIPG by way of payment, which could make the state-owned company BPC’s largest shareholder.
Last February, the Guangxi branch of China’s State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) set up GBGIPG to take over Fangcheng Port Group and Qinzhou Port Group. The group signed an agreement to acquire 40.79% of Beihai Port Co last month, which is still pending approval from SASAC.
Should the share issue and two stake sales proceed, GBGIPG will hold 80.46% of BPC, which will then control all three ports.
BPC said in a statement that the aim of the deals was to consolidate the port assets in the province and avert competition.
Ports along Beibu Gulf lag far behind ports around the Bohai Rim in the north, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
Beihai Port is the smallest port among the three handling 5.02m tonnes of cargo last year, up 25% from 2006.
Fangcheng port has 31 operating berths. It can handle 35m tonnes of cargo a year at the moment and its annual capacity will be expended to 40m tonnes in 2009. The annual container handling capacity of Fangcheng port is 500,000 teu.
Qinzhou port in the north of the Beibu Gulf operates five berths with an annual capacity of 5m tonnes. It processed 5.2m tonnes of cargo last year, up 18% from 2006, of which 53,879 teu was containerised cargo.
The three ports are expected to have a combined capacity of 100m tonnes by 2010, said BPC.
BPC said on Friday it would buy a 70% stake in Fangcheng Port Group and 100% of Qinzhou Port Group, which are together worth Yuan2.22bn, from GBGIPG.
The purchase will group together the Beihai, Fangcheng and Qinzhou ports in southwest China’s Beibu Gulf.
The Shenzhen-listed port developer will issue 288m additional shares at Yuan7.71 apiece to GBGIPG by way of payment, which could make the state-owned company BPC’s largest shareholder.
Last February, the Guangxi branch of China’s State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) set up GBGIPG to take over Fangcheng Port Group and Qinzhou Port Group. The group signed an agreement to acquire 40.79% of Beihai Port Co last month, which is still pending approval from SASAC.
Should the share issue and two stake sales proceed, GBGIPG will hold 80.46% of BPC, which will then control all three ports.
BPC said in a statement that the aim of the deals was to consolidate the port assets in the province and avert competition.
Ports along Beibu Gulf lag far behind ports around the Bohai Rim in the north, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
Beihai Port is the smallest port among the three handling 5.02m tonnes of cargo last year, up 25% from 2006.
Fangcheng port has 31 operating berths. It can handle 35m tonnes of cargo a year at the moment and its annual capacity will be expended to 40m tonnes in 2009. The annual container handling capacity of Fangcheng port is 500,000 teu.
Qinzhou port in the north of the Beibu Gulf operates five berths with an annual capacity of 5m tonnes. It processed 5.2m tonnes of cargo last year, up 18% from 2006, of which 53,879 teu was containerised cargo.
The three ports are expected to have a combined capacity of 100m tonnes by 2010, said BPC.