Orascom plans to sell container port business for about US$1 billion
Orascom Construction Industries, the largest cement maker in the Middle East and North Africa, may sell its container port business at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal for about US$1 billion.
The Egyptian company has asked Deutsche Bank AG to seek bids for Sokhna Port Development Co, chief executive officer Nassef Sawiris said in an interview on Tuesday.
Sokhna Port, located on the Red Sea, is about 85 per cent controlled by Cairo- based Orascom and Sokhna CEO Ossama Al-Sharif.
'The company doesn't get enough attention within our group, and another company may be able to add more value,' Mr Sawiris said. 'A port operator, or an infrastructure company, may better support its growth.'
Investment banks, construction companies, buyout firms and pension funds are competing for assets such as toll roads, airports and ports that offer a steady flow of earnings. Dubai's state-owned port operator DP World paid £pounds;3.9 billion (S$11.97 billion) in February 2006 for Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
Sokhna has four terminals providing loading and unloading services for containers, general cargo, fertiliser and bulk materials, according to its website.
The annual pace of takeovers in the marine and shipbuilding industry has accelerated by more than two-thirds to US$36.8 billion, compared with 2004 levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A group led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc agreed to buy Associated British Ports Holdings plc, Britain's biggest port company, for £pounds;2.8 billion in June last year.
Their bid trumped a rival offer from a Macquarie Bank Ltd consortium.
Orascom is also assessing the value of two other businesses for possible sale; an industrial park business called Suez Industrial Development Company and a pipe making unit, the CEO said.
The company plans to concentrate on its faster- growing markets spanning construction, cement and fertiliser factories. The CEO declined to say what their value might be.
At the same time, Orascom is interested in buying companies in emerging markets, particularly those where it can get a head start over its competitors, Mr Sawiris said.
Anglo American plc may sell its Tarmac unit. Mr Sawiris said there is 'value' in crushed-rock producers like Tarmac and Orascom will study the information memorandum from Anglo's advisers UBS AG.
'We are likely to take a look at what Tarmac might do for our shareholders,' said Mr Sawiris. 'We have not made any decision about whether to pursue Tarmac.'
CRH plc, the world's second-biggest maker and distributor of building materials, said it looks at all potential targets that come up for sale, including Tarmac, and it has as much as three billion euros (S$6.23 billion) available to it for purchases, CEO Liam O'Mahony said in an interview on Aug 28.
Orascom said on Monday first-half profit jumped 46 per cent to US$307.1 million, buoyed by demand in Algeria and Egypt. It increased cement sales by a third to 8.4 million tonnes.
Cement companies and factories are being added in North Korea, South Africa and Syria to more than double annual capacity to 44 million tonnes by 2010, Mr Sawiris said.
The Egyptian company has asked Deutsche Bank AG to seek bids for Sokhna Port Development Co, chief executive officer Nassef Sawiris said in an interview on Tuesday.
Sokhna Port, located on the Red Sea, is about 85 per cent controlled by Cairo- based Orascom and Sokhna CEO Ossama Al-Sharif.
'The company doesn't get enough attention within our group, and another company may be able to add more value,' Mr Sawiris said. 'A port operator, or an infrastructure company, may better support its growth.'
Investment banks, construction companies, buyout firms and pension funds are competing for assets such as toll roads, airports and ports that offer a steady flow of earnings. Dubai's state-owned port operator DP World paid £pounds;3.9 billion (S$11.97 billion) in February 2006 for Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
Sokhna has four terminals providing loading and unloading services for containers, general cargo, fertiliser and bulk materials, according to its website.
The annual pace of takeovers in the marine and shipbuilding industry has accelerated by more than two-thirds to US$36.8 billion, compared with 2004 levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A group led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc agreed to buy Associated British Ports Holdings plc, Britain's biggest port company, for £pounds;2.8 billion in June last year.
Their bid trumped a rival offer from a Macquarie Bank Ltd consortium.
Orascom is also assessing the value of two other businesses for possible sale; an industrial park business called Suez Industrial Development Company and a pipe making unit, the CEO said.
The company plans to concentrate on its faster- growing markets spanning construction, cement and fertiliser factories. The CEO declined to say what their value might be.
At the same time, Orascom is interested in buying companies in emerging markets, particularly those where it can get a head start over its competitors, Mr Sawiris said.
Anglo American plc may sell its Tarmac unit. Mr Sawiris said there is 'value' in crushed-rock producers like Tarmac and Orascom will study the information memorandum from Anglo's advisers UBS AG.
'We are likely to take a look at what Tarmac might do for our shareholders,' said Mr Sawiris. 'We have not made any decision about whether to pursue Tarmac.'
CRH plc, the world's second-biggest maker and distributor of building materials, said it looks at all potential targets that come up for sale, including Tarmac, and it has as much as three billion euros (S$6.23 billion) available to it for purchases, CEO Liam O'Mahony said in an interview on Aug 28.
Orascom said on Monday first-half profit jumped 46 per cent to US$307.1 million, buoyed by demand in Algeria and Egypt. It increased cement sales by a third to 8.4 million tonnes.
Cement companies and factories are being added in North Korea, South Africa and Syria to more than double annual capacity to 44 million tonnes by 2010, Mr Sawiris said.
