Delo Group bought Maersk’s stake in Global Ports

Sergey Shishkarev’s Delo Group and APM Terminals (APMT), which is part of the Danish AP Moller-Maersk, have closed a previously agreed deal to acquire a 30.75% stake in Global Ports. This is stated in the message of “Case” on September 13.

“After the completion of the transaction, the group became the owner of a 61.50% stake in Global Ports. The Group and AMPT entered into a transaction on agreed market terms. It includes the possibility for APMT to return to joint business with the group in the future,” Dela said in a statement.

Global Ports is a Russian operator of specialized port terminals. The Group operates a network of seven multifunctional terminals Petrolesport, Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company, First Container Terminal, Ust-Luga Container Terminal, Moby Dik, and two terminals in Finland – in Kotka and Helsinki. Global Ports also owns 75% in the Yanino logistics park near St. Petersburg. The main activity of Global Ports is the transshipment of cargo in containers.

Prior to this transaction, Global Ports was a joint venture between APMT and Delo Group. Each of the parties has 30.75% of the port operator, the rest of the papers are in free circulation. According to Global Ports unaudited consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2022, the company lost $400.7 million due to impairment of assets in the amount of $521.1 million, revenue increased by 18% to $271.6 million, adjusted EBITDA increased by 28% up to $145.6 million

Delo closed the deal to buy its 30.75% stake in Global Ports on April 12, 2018. The seller was then Transportation Investments Holding Limited (TIHL), which represents the interests of the founders of the N-Trans group Konstantin Nikolaev, Nikita Mishin and Andrey Filatov . The amount of the sale was not disclosed. But, as Kommersant wrote at the end of 2017, referring to the data of the London Stock Exchange, where Global Ports is traded, the company’s capitalization was $774 million, thus the sold share was estimated at $238 million.

At that time, 30.75% of Global Ports was already owned by Maersk through APMT, Ilibrinio Establishment Limited and Polozio Enterprises Limited had 9% each. As a result of the transaction, Delo became a party to the shareholder agreement with APMT.

Already at the end of February, Maersk announced that it was considering the possibility of suspending all deliveries to and from Russia against the backdrop of Western sanctions “due to the aggravation of the geopolitical situation in Ukraine.”

In early March, Maersk stopped accepting new orders from the Russian Federation, with the exception of food and medicine shipments. In particular, the holding stopped accepting new orders for all its services to and from Russia, including ocean, transcontinental, rail and aviation, and also removed its own containers from the country. Maersk also stopped buying Russian oil for its ships.

On March 22, the Danish company announced the termination of its activities in and the sale of its assets in Russia, including the refusal to own shares in Global Ports.

Vedomosti sent questions to the Delo group and Global Ports.

The deal has been in preparation for a long time and it is clear that Delo was a key contender, says Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics. The fair value of a 30.75% stake in Global Ports at the beginning of 2022 was at least $200 million, he believes. Taking into account the geopolitical situation, the deal was concluded at a discount and the price of the package, most likely, did not exceed 6 billion rubles. (nearly $100 million at the current exchange rate), the analyst believes. “The price could be lower if the structure of the transaction provides for an option to repurchase at an agreed value,” Burmistrov admits.

The deal allowed the Delo Group to increase its share in an attractive asset, while maintaining partnerships with the world leader, said Pavel Ivankin, President of the Transportation and Infrastructure Research Center. Considering that Delo is becoming the largest player in the Russian market, such a tandem is a strategic contribution to the future, the expert believes.

“I assess the likelihood of a desire to return Maersk as high, but the market position will depend on a number of factors, including geopolitical ones,” Ivankin told Vedomosti.