Global Ports is poised to become the largest container terminal operator in Eastern Europe after announcing the acquisition of Russia's second-largest port operator, National Container Company (NCC).
Global Ports will pay about $1.56 billion for NCC, including $291 million in cash, an 18-percent share in the enlarged company worth about $360 million and the assumption of NCC's debt, Vedomosti reported.
The deal will give Global Ports, owned by the Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk and a group of Russian billionaires, control over ports in the St. Petersburg area and an option to buy a 50-percent stake in the Ukrainian port of Illichevsk for $60 million.