ICTSI Far East Pte Ltd — a subsidiary of Philippine-based port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) — has formally offered to buy remaining shares of Portek International Limited at a premium price of $1.20 Singapore dollars per share.
Listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange, Portek is an operator of container terminals of up to 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units and multipurpose ports.
The offer, which was announced by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp on behalf of ICTSI Far East, began June 22 and will last until July 20, 2011.
Last June 1, ICTSI Far East announced a voluntary conditional cash offer to acquire all issued and paid-up ordinary shares in the capital of Portek International Limited, other than those already owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by ICTSI and its related parties.
“If successful, our offer will grant Portek the scale and access to capital that would enable it to grow further,” ICTSI chair Enrique Razon said.
To date, ICTSI Far East and parties acting in concert with it own or control in aggregate 25,445,000 shares, representing approximately 16.79% of the shares.
In acquiring Portek, ICTSI’s strategy is to expand its existing network of port concessions that will add to ICTSI’s global network of 22 port terminals in 17 countries.
Portek has appointed Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Berhad in Singapore to study the offer made by ICTSI.
