Ports of Auckland buys stake in container depot company

Ports of Auckland buys stake in container depot company    Ports of Auckland Ltd., the public company operating the ports of Auckland and Onehunga in New Zealand, has agreed to pay about NZ$3 million ($2.15 million) to acquire a 27.5 percent stake in container depot company United Containers Ltd. (UCL).
   UCL has container depot operations in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch, and Tauranga. It also has 50 percent equity ownership of container depot operations in Wellington and Christchurch as well as 51 percent equity ownership of operations in Fiji.
   In addition to its own facilities, UCL carries out container depot activities on contract to Ports of Auckland at two locations, adjacent to the Axis Fergusson container terminal in the eastern part of the Auckland port and adjacent to the Axis Bledisloe container terminal in the central area of the Auckland port.