IFM Investors, the Australian infrastructure giant, has acquired a majority stake in Britain's largest port operator, Associated British Ports, valuing the company at more than 10 billion pounds. The deal marks the end of two decades of Canadian ownership, with IFM purchasing the combined stakes of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, which held 34 percent and 30 percent of ABP respectively. The transaction saw off competition from private equity groups KKR and Apollo, as well as Indian industrialist Gautam Adani.
ABP operates 19 ports around the UK, including Southampton and the Humber, handling around a quarter of the country's seaborne trade. Formed in the early 1980s following the privatisation of the British Transport Docks Board, ABP was floated in 1983 and taken private in 2006 by a group including Goldman Sachs' infrastructure arm and Omers for 2.8 billion pounds. IFM, owned by 15 Australian pension funds and the UK's National Employment Savings Trust, brings about 96 billion pounds in infrastructure assets.
Kyle Mangini, IFM's global head of infrastructure, stated the transaction reflects a longstanding commitment to mobilising pension capital into UK infrastructure.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing