Management Company Delo, the holding company of Delo Group, has entered into an agreement to buy from Transportation Investments Holding Limited (TIHL) its 30.75% stake in Global Ports.
Sergey Shishkarev, President and the owner of Delo Group, commented: “We did not hesitate a second when taking the decision to enter the transaction. We highly rate the potential of our cooperation with Global Ports, will apply our rich experience in transportation industry and will take maximum effort to strengthen the Company in the markets in which it is active. We are very much aligned with the Group’s current strategy and governance structure.”
Mikhail Loganov, CEO of Global Ports Management LLC, said: “We are delighted to welcome Delo as our potential strategic shareholder. Delo has an impressive track record in the Russian port industry and operates in the Black Sea Basin where Global Ports is not currently represented.”
APM Terminals, which own a 30.75% share in Global Ports, have confirmed receiving the notice of sale from TIHL. “As per our Shareholder’s Agreement, we have a period of 30 business days to decide how we will proceed. We will adhere to the process for this situation per the shareholder’s agreement. Any outcomes will be shared in due course”, said APMT in a statement.
The parties do not disclose the price. According to Anton Chertkov, Member of the Delo Management Board, told SeaNews the Group is to finance the acquisition from their own and loaned money.
Global Ports operates five container terminals in Russia (Petrolesport, First Container Terminal, Ust-Luga Container Terminal and Moby Dik in the Russian Baltic, and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company in the Russian Far East) and two container terminals in Finland (Multi-Link Terminals in Helsinki and Kotka). Global Ports also owns inland container terminals Yanino Logistics Park and Logistika-Terminal in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, and has a 50% stake in the Vopak E.O.S. oil product terminal in Estonia. The consolidated marine container throughput of Global Ports’ terminals in the first half of 2017 was 587 thousand TEU.
Delo Group’s stevedoring assets include Novorossiysk-based NUTEP container terminal, KSK grain terminal and Delo service company.
According to Delo, no changes to the Global Ports strategy is envisaged, and both Delo and Global Ports will continue to operate under their existing btands.
According to SeaNews’ statistics, the share of the terminals incorporated in Global Ports in The Russian sea ports’ total container throughput made 29.7%, with First Container Terminal accounting for the largest share of 12%. Delo Group acounted for 6.4% of the Russian container market. Together, Delo and Global Ports handled some 36% of Russia’s seabourne containers.
The majority shareholders in Global Ports are Transportation Investments Holding Limited (operates under the N-Trans brand) with 30.75% and APM Terminals B.V. with 30.75%, part of Maersk Group, Ilibrinio Establishment Limited and Polozio Enterprises Limited have 9% each, and and 20.5% is free-float.
Global Ports’ revenue for H1 2017 made 162.5 mn, slightly below the H1 2016 result (-0,8%). Adjusted EBITDA was down 12.8% to $97.3 mn, gross profit down 24% to $82.5 mn, and operating profit down 76.6% to $14.1 mn. Net loss made $11.9 mn compared to $113.4 mn of net profit a year earlier. Net debt decreased by $32.3 mn, and the total debt by $35.6 mn.
DeloPorts, which incorporates the stevedoring assets of Delo Group, saw its net profit increase in H1 2017 by 3.3% year-on-year to 1,952 mn rubles ($33.3 mn as of today). The company’s revenue grew 9.2% to 4,037 mn rubles ($68.9 mn). EBITDA was down 1.6% to 2,733 mn rubles ($46.2 mn). Operating cash flow decreased 16.4% to 1,891 mn rubles ($32.3 mn). The net debt of the company made 5,289 mn rubles ($902.2 mn), 22.2% more than on December 31, 2016.