Eller beats the drum for DP World divestment

Eller beats the drum for DP World divestment    Eller & Co., the small Florida stevedore that helped slay the U.S. portion of a large ports deal, says it is not satisfied by the government of Dubai’s promise last week to spin off the U.S. facilities it acquired as part of the takeover of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. on March 8.
   Dubai Ports World said it now plans to consummate a sale of its U.S. assets to an American buyer within four to six months in response to overwhelming opposition and efforts to block the deal by a hostile Congress. DP World has said any deal must ensure that it does not lose money from its acquisition of subsidiary P&O Ports North America, even though the Dubai company paid above value for P&O in a bidding war.
   Joseph Muldoon, a Washington lobbyist for Eller, said in an e-mail to reporters that Congress should force Dubai Ports World to immediately divest the 22 terminals and cargo-handling services it now owns because DP World’s sale conditions do not guarantee a transfer will occur.
   “These conditions call into question the seriousness of DP World’s commitment to the sale,” Muldoon said.
   Congress should follow the precedent by the first President George Bush, who in 1990 ordered the state-owned China National Aerosapce Technology Import and Export Corp. (CATIC) to divest its interest in Seattle-based aircraft parts maker MAMCO Manufacturing Inc. within 90 days because of security concerns over technology transfers to China, Muldoon said.
   In that case, the Treasury Department stepped in after six months and placed the company in the hands of U.S. trustees and restricted CATIC’s access to the company until it could pull out its financial stake in MAMCO.
   At the height of the furor over the port sale when the Bush administration was trying to calm Congress by offering to run another investigation of DP World, Eller said it wanted the P&O Ports subsidiary to be placed in the hands of a court-appointed receiver until the investigation was completed. The receiver then would have sold off the assets if the sale had been disapproved.
   Many of the most vocal critics of the deal in Congress expressed satisfaction that DP World’s clarification means the company intends to sell P&O Ports North American to an unrelated buyer, but some still have pushed for legislation to unequivocally kill the deal to make sure DP World doesn’t retain a passive financial interest in the subsidiary.