A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S and its fully owned subsidiary Orion Limited have today
entered into an agreement to sell their interests (a total of 13.7 %) in Sigma
Enterprises Limited ("Sigma") which owns an interest in the Yantian
International Container Terminal, China and the related shareholder loans to
Crestway International Limited (a subsidiary of COSCO Pacific Limited) at a
total consideration of USD 520 million.
"We have been involved in Yantian since the beginning and under the leadership
of Hutchison, Yantian has been a very successful port development. It has been
a good investment and excellent joint venture. This divestment is part of an
active portfolio management. We held a minority stake and we were not operator
in Yantian. We received a fair offer, and this will enable us to focus on
growing our business in areas, where we can add value through our strong
project management and safe and efficient operations," says Kim Fejfer, CEO of
APM Terminals.
"China is an important growth market for APM Terminals and we are dedicated to
servicing the needs of our customers in China. We remain very positive on the
container port market in China and globally. We will continue to seek
investment opportunities in China and worldwide, with the ambition to become
the operator of choice for our customers," says Kim Fejfer.
A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S' subsidiary APM Terminals B.V. currently maintains
operations and holds terminal interests throughout China at the Ports of
Dalian, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin and Xiamen.
The transaction remains subject to consent from the other shareholders in
Sigma, approvals from the shareholders of COSCO Pacific Limited and China COSCO
Holdings Company Limited (in accordance with applicable stock exchange rules)
as well as additional customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected
to be finalised on or before 31 July 2010.
The transaction is expected to generate an accounting gain in the order of USD
300-400 million in 2010.
Contact person: Kim Fejfer, CEO, APM Terminals, phone: +31 7030 43110.
Investor Relations: Phone: +45 3363 3106.
Copenhagen, 29 April 2010
