Global Ports is poised to become the largest container terminal operator in Eastern Europe after announcing the acquisition of Russia's second-largest port operator, National Container Company.
Global Ports will pay about $1.56 billion for NCC, including $291 million in cash, an 18-percent share in the enlarged company worth about $360 million and the assumption of NCC's debt, Vedomosti reported.
The deal will give Global Ports, owned by the Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk and a group of Russian billionaires, control over ports in the St. Petersburg area and the option to buy a 50-percent stake in the Ukrainian port of Illichevsk for $60 million.
The acquisitions raise the company's total cargo throughput to 2.5 million tons and additional capacity of 1 million tons, Reuters reported.
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