PD Ports to join stock market

PD Ports to join stock market    PD Group Ltd., the operator of the British port of Teesport, will join the Alternative Investment Market July 12 following the sale of the company to new investors by its current Japanese owner, Nikko.
   Nikko, which acquires the port in 2000, has agreed to sell it for '172.5 million ($315 million), consisting of '106 million ($194 million) in cash, '14 million ($26 million) in convertible bonds and 52.4 million new shares in PD Ports plc.
   PD Ports plc, a company set up for the purposes of the acquisition, has placed shares and convertible bonds with institutional investors. The shares and convertible bonds will be listed on the Alternative Investment Market. Nikko will then hold 29.9 percent of the company’s share capital and 28.2 percent of its convertible bonds.
   Teesport is the second-largest port in the United Kingdom by tonnage. A deepwater port, it aims to attract a share of the container traffic handled by the congested container ports in the south of England.
   For the year ended March 31, PD Ports had revenues of '161.1 million ($294 million) and earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of '42.5 million ($78 million).
   PD Ports, through PD Teesport, owns and operates the port of Tees and Hartlepool and acts as statutory harbor authority. In addition, PD Ports provides stevedoring and maritime services at ports on the rivers Humber, Trent and Ouse and at wharves on the Thames and the south coast of England. PD Ports’ other businesses include PD Logistics, offering warehousing, distribution and freight forwarding services from several U.K. locations, and PD Truck and Van, a Mercedes-Benz truck and van specialist.