TIL buys half interest in Buenos Aires terminal

   The container liner company Mediterranean Shipping Co. said its Terminal Investment Limited affiliate has acquired Global Infrastructure Partners’ 50-percent interest in a company that owns Exoglan, the largest container terminal in Buenos Aires.
   Global Infrastructure Partners and TIL have been working together since Global acquired 35 percent of TIL from MSC for $1.9 billion in May 2013. Diego Aponte, vice president of MSC and chairman of TIL, said the deal is a “logical extension” of that relationship.
   “Furthermore, the investment in Exolgan aligns with our strategy at MSC to acquire equity in key terminals so as to ensure the efficiency and capacity required for our global shipping network,” he added.
   While TIL’s investments in 27 terminals around the world included terminals in Brazil and Peru, it had not previously owned a facility in Argentina.
   The Argentine company TIL is acquiring its half-stake in is International Trade Logistics. The other half is owned by PSA of Singapore.
   ITL is the largest container terminal and associated logistics business in Argentina and has three business units:

• Exolgan, a terminal with four berths and seven super post-panamax cranes. It handled about 550,000 TEU last year and has potential capacity of 2.5 million TEU.
• Exologistica, a contract logistics business focused on the consumer products as well as the industrial and petrochemical sectors. It provides integrated solutions to Exolgan customers.
• LPI, a logistics warehousing business servicing Exologistica, Exlolgan and third parties.

   Adebayo Ogunlesi, Managing Partner of GIP, commented: “We are very happy to have extended our relationship with the MSC Group through this sale of our interest in ITL to TIL. We are confident that Exolgan, which is the largest and most efficient terminal in Argentina, being capable of servicing two 10,000-TEU ships concurrently, will fit well within the TIL terminal portfolio and will, in the future, provide excellent service to MSC and its other customers.”