Maher Terminals prepares for ownership change

Macquarie, which already owns several container terminals in the U.S. and Canada, will now own the largest container terminal at the Port of New York and New Jersey.    The largest container shipping terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey is being sold to an Australian infrastructure fund.
   Deutsche Bank said last week it will sell the 454-acre Maher Terminals USA in Elizabeth, N.J. to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III, a private fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).
   Deutsche Bank said Maher currently moves more than 2 million TEUs of containers annually, which would be nearly one-third of the 6.37 million TEU handled in the port in 2015.
   The deal is subject to approval by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is landlord to Maher and most terminals in the port, and other regulators.
   The Deutsche Bank acquired Maher Terminals in 2007 from the Maher family, according to some reports, for more than $2 billion.
   Deutsche Bank and MacQuarie said the terms of their deal are not being disclosed.
   MIRA is no stranger to the marine terminal business. Through its various funds, it has acquired 100 percent of Fraser Surrey Docks at the Port of Vancouver, B.C.; Halterm in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Penn Terminals at Eddystown, Penn., which is six miles south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. It also has a 49 percent stake in NYK Ports, which includes Yusen Terminals Inc. at the Port of Los Angeles, and NYK Terminals, which operates in or offers stevedoring services for containerships, cruise ships, roll-on/roll-off ships, and bulk carriers at 18 ports in the U.S. and Canada.
   A publicly traded MIRA fund, Macquarie Infrastructure Corp., owns 100 percent of International-Matex Tank Terminals, which has 10 facilities, including a tank farm in Bayonne, N.J.