Goldman group to buy AB Ports

LONDON: A group including Goldman Sachs agreed to buy Associated British Ports (ABP), Britain’s largest ports group, for £2.5bn ($4.6bn) on Wednesday, the latest in a string of UK port takeovers.

However, analysts and dealers said a rival bid could still emerge after AB Ports shares were snapped up above the agreed offer price in early trade.

Admiral Acquisitions, a group including GS and investors from Singapore and Canada, offered 810 pence in cash for AB Ports after sweetening an offer made earlier in the year.

AB Ports shares were trading 7.1% firmer. Dealers said Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein was buying about £100 m worth of stock.

“This may turn out a bit like P&O where the bidders were leapfrogging each other. At this stage, there is one bidder on the table but there are a lot of rumours in the market,” Oriel Securities analyst Gerald Khoo said.

AB Ports CEO Bo Lerenius said the firm had not been approached by any other bidders. The deal followed a $6.8bn takeover of British ports operator P&O by Dubai Ports World, which was completed in March following a bidding war with Singapore’s PSA International.

GS is under pressure to complete the deal following a string of failed bids, including airports group BAA, ITV and pubs group Mitchells & Butlers.