Global Ports Investments completes NCC acquisition

The acquisition of the second largest container terminal operator in Russia will strengthen Global Ports’ position as the container market in the country continues to grow. The company will now operate nine container terminals and have a total handling capacity of approximately 1.1m teu, making it the largest terminal operator in Eastern Europe and enabling it to accommodate future throughput growth.

Of the cash consideration of US$291m agreed at the signing, the Group paid $229m on completion of the acquisition. The remaining US$62m will be subject to, and to the extent that, Ilibrino Establishment and Polozio Enterprises, the former owners of NCC have procured no later than 1 January 2015 that the Eurogate loans to Ust-Luga Container Terminal (ULCT) are converted into new ULCT shares issued to Eurogate.

To finance the acquisition, the Group has raised US$238m under a secured term loan agreement. In addition, the terms for some of its existing debt portfolio have been renegotiated. As a result, the average interest rate of its loan portfolio is expected to decrease shortly after acquisition.