ICTSI eyes port services expansion to Singapore

MANILA, Philippines — Listed International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has offered to buy a Singapore-based port services firm as it expands its reach abroad and cement its place as one of the world’s largest port developers.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Razon-led firm said its subsidiary ICTSI Far East Pte. Ltd. said it had made an offer to buy all shares of Portek International Ltd. for 1.20 Singaporean dollar each.

This is a premium over Portek’s closing share price of 0.71 Singaporean dollar at the end of May. This is also a 111-percent premium over Portek’s average six-month closing share price on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

“Our offer represents an attractive proposition to Portek shareholders to realize the value of their investment in cash and at a substantial premium to the historical traded prices of the shares. We strongly believe that the offer reflects the value of the combined business and management of the Portek and ICTSI,” the company said.

ICTSI declined to say exactly how much the total price of the acquisition would be.

The acquisition of Portek is in line with ICTSI’s stated strategy to expand its existing network of port concessions, adding to ICTSI’s global network of 22 port terminals in 17 countries.

Portek operates terminals of up to 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), while ICTSI, its subsidiaries and associated companies operate similar sized terminals, medium-sized terminals and ICTSI’s flagship Manila terminal which has 1,900,000 TEU capacity.

“As competition for the acquisition of port concessions intensifies, scale and access to capital will become critical factors in winning new concessions and in successfully financing the expansion of existing facilities,” ICTSI said.

If the offer was successful, the company said Portek would be able to draw upon ICTSI’s financial resources to successfully execute its organic and geographical expansion.

Last April, ICTSI successfully raised $200 million in perpetual bonds. “The fresh funds give us flexibility to respond to potential acquisitions and new projects more swiftly,” ICTSI treasurer Rafael Consing said earlier.