Dubai — Mubasher: DP World on Wednesday announced that it has acquired an additional stake in DP World Australia (Holding) Pty Ltd (DP World Australia) from Gateway Infrastructure Investments (Gateway) and other financial investors.
The enterprise value of DP World Australia is estimated at approximately AUD 1.4 billion ($997 million), Dubai's state-owned ports operator said in a statement.
Set to be completed in the first quarter of 2019, the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, DP World added.
After closing this takeover, DP World Australia will become a consolidated entity within the DP World Group and is projected to be earnings neutral in the first full year of ownership, according to the statement.
It noted that the manager of the Gateway Fund, Corsair Infrastructure Partners (CIP), will continue to manage a significant investment in DP World Australia.
Commenting on the acquisition deal, CEO of DP World group Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said, “brings DP World Australia back into our consolidated portfolio, which presents a more optimal structure to drive this business forward, while continuing our relationship with CIP as a valued partner.”
He added, “We remain optimistic on the growth prospects in Australia and believe there is an exciting opportunity to enhance shareholder value by further developing the container terminals operations and expanding beyond the ports into logistics services.”
DP World Australia (DPWA) is a leading container port operator that manages 4 terminals at Australia’s key ports, namely Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle, with a capacity of approximately 4mn TEU’s.
In 2017, DPWA handled 3.4 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and recorded as much as $400 million in revenues.
