The Australian infrastructure giant IFM Investors has bought a majority stake in Britain’s largest port operator, valuing Associated British Ports at more than £10bn in a deal that brings two decades of Canadian ownership to a close.
IFM has bought the combined stakes of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, which own 34 per cent and 30 per cent of ABP respectively, seeing off competition from private capital groups KKR and Apollo as well as the billionaire Indian industrialist Gautam Adani.
The terms of the sale were not disclosed but people with knowledge of the process said it valued the company at more than £10bn.
James Bryce, managing director, head of infrastructure at CPP Investments, described the deal as “an attractive opportunity to realise the value of our long-term investment”.
ABP owns 19 ports around the UK, including Southampton, the UK’s third-largest container port, and the Humber, a major industrial hub. Overall, its ports handle around a quarter of the country’s seaborne trade.
The company was formed in the early 1980s following the privatisation of the British Transport Docks Board and floated in 1983 before being taken private in 2006 by a group of investors, including Goldman Sachs’ infrastructure arm and Omers, for £2.8bn. Ownership of the group shifted over the years, with CPPIB acquiring its stake in 2015.
Other leading shareholders include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and the Kuwait Investment Authority’s Wren House Infrastructure.
The FT first revealed that the Canadian investment groups were planning to sell their stakes in February.
“We look forward to supporting continued development of ABP’s infrastructure and operations,” said Kyle Mangini, IFM’s global head of infrastructure in a statement. “As an investor owned by Australian and UK pension funds, this transaction reflects our longstanding commitment to mobilising pension capital into UK infrastructure.”
IFM, which is owned by 15 Australian pension funds and the UK’s National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), owns stakes in various seaport businesses around the world and has about $96bn of infrastructure assets. Last year, Nest pledged to invest £5bn with IFM.