WASHINGTON, 16 March 2006 — A Dubai-owned company said yesterday it plans to sell all its US port operations within four to six months to an unrelated American buyer and laid out new details about how it plans to pursue the sale under pressure from Congress.
DP World said that until the sale is finalized, its US businesses will be operated independently.
“An expedited sale process is under way and with the cooperation of the port authorities and joint venture partners, it is expected that a sale can be agreed within four to six months,” the company said in a statement.
DP World said it will provide information about its business to “interested parties,” which it did not identify, and said it will assess offers based on what it described as “value, deliverability and the continuity of management, employees and customers.”
The new disclosures by DP World responded to questions raised since its announcement last week about how it intends to transfer to an unspecified American company all the US operations it acquired when it bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion.
The British company handles significant operations at ports in New Jersey, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia — plus lesser dockside activities at 16 other ports in this country.
DP World has said those US operations are worth roughly $700 million. Since DP World’s announcement last week, Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress have questioned whether the company planned a full divestiture or whether it would retain some stake in the US operations. “We’re learning appearances may have been different than reality,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and a leading critic of the deal said Tuesday. He pledged to push for a vote in the Senate as early as this week to try to kill the deal if the company failed to disclose details of its plans.
DP World said previously that its decision last week was based on an understanding it would be given time for an orderly transfer and that DP World will not suffer economic loss. But until yesterday, it had steadfastly declined to clarify its statement or the timing of any possible sale. Leading congressional critics threatened repeatedly to intervene if DP World’s plans fell short of a full divestiture of its US operations.
President George W. Bush had strongly defended the ports deal, saying the United Arab Emirates is a valuable ally in the fight against terrorism.