ICTSI takes in partner for port project in Nigeria

Enrique Razon Jr. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—International Container Terminal Services Inc., the country’s biggest port operator, has taken in one of the world’s biggest container shipping firms as a partner in its Nigerian venture, a stock exchange filing showed Monday.

ICTSI, led by Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon Jr., said its unit, ICTSI Capital B.V., sold a 25-percent stake in Nigerian subsidiary Lekki International Container Terminal Services LFTZ Enterprise to CMA Terminals.

The shares were valued at $25,000 and would include 25 percent of the Nigerian unit’s total debt and accrued expenses, the filing showed.

CMA Terminals is part of the Marseille-based CMA-CGM Group, which is the third-largest container shipping company worldwide and the largest in France.

ICTSI said the deal “is expected to further improve the viability of the project in the Lagos Free Trade Zone at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State, Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“Having the third-largest container shipping company in the world as a partner in the project is expected to help accelerate the volume ramp-up of the company’s greenfield project in the early years of its operation and establish a more stable core throughput for (Lekki International Container Terminal) in the long run,” ICTSI said.

The transaction was seen as part of ICTSI’s strategy to further expand its presence in international emerging markets.

The company last year said it was looking at areas in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia for possible expansion.

Last week, ICTSI announced a plan to invest $100 million over five years in developing a river port and container terminal in the Republic of Congo in Central Africa.

ICTSI partnered with La Societe De Gestion Immobiliere Lengo, a concessionaire of a parcel of land intended for port use along the Congo river in the district of Mbengu, Township of Matadi.—Miguel R. Camus