ICTSI buys out partner to assume full control of Aussie port operator

MANILA, Philippines–Businessman Enrique Razon Jr.’s International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has bought out a partner to fully acquire a company that is building and will operate a new international container terminal in Melbourne, Australia, a stock exchange filing showed on Wednesday.

ICTSI, through unit ICTSI Far East Pte. Ltd.,  signed a share sale agreement with Anglo Ports Pty Ltd. for the acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Victoria International Container Terminal Ltd. Following the transaction, ICTSI Far East, which is based in Singapore, will own 100 percent of Victoria International Container.

ICTSI said 7.5 million Australian dollars for a added 10 percent stake, the filing showed.

Victoria Container Terminal in May last year signed an agreement with the Port of Melbourne for the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the Port of Melbourne’s new international container terminal and empty container park at Webb Dock.

The lease extension here ends in 2040, the filing showed.

ICTSI earlier said the project requires investments amounting to  $508 million, mainly to develop  the Webb Dock Container Terminal and Empty Container Park in the Port of Melbourne.

The project is part of the Port of Melbourne, which has about 3,200 commercial ship calls per year and handles over 2.5 million TEUs (twenty foot units) annually.

Victoria International Container will build and commission new terminal at berths Webb Dock East 4 and Webb Dock East 5. It will also design and build the new empty container park at Webb Dock East and operate the Terminal and Empty Container Park.

ICTSI said Phase 1 of the terminal project started last year and will be done by December 2016 with an estimated capacity of 350,000 TEUs. It added that phase 2 will be ready for operation by December 2017.

“When fully developed, and as required by volume growth, the terminal will have six Post-panamax ship-to-shore cranes and will be able to handle up to 1.4 million TEUs annually and the ECP will have a capacity of 280,000 TEUs,” according to ICTSI.

Breaking down the planned investment, ICTSI said $407 million would go to the development of the Webb Dock Container Terminal and Container Park.

The International Container Terminal Services Inc. said another $101 million will be spent to increase the capacity of the terminal to 1.4 million TEUs.

The move is in line with ICTSI’s aggressive expansion push overseas, which was previously focused on emerging markets.–Miguel R. Camus