Port operator DP World said on Tuesdy it is not involved in talks over a potential sale of a stake, and talks between its parent company and a regional private equity player were no longer ongoing.

“The board of DP World would like to reiterate previous statements that
they have not been involved in any discussions in relation to a
potential sale of a stake in the company,” the Dubai-based firm said in
a statement on Nasdaq Dubai’s bourse.

“DP World has now been advised by Dubai World that these discussions are no longer ongoing,” it added.

DP World issued the statement following a media report that Dubai-based
private equity firm Abraaj Capital’s five-month old talks to buy a
stake in the firm collapsed after both companies failed to agree terms,
citing bankers familiar with the deal.

Abraaj Capital was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

DP World’s shares were up 0.8 percent at $0.482 a share at 0622 GMT, having hit a 46-week closing high on Thursday.

Any potential sale may have been derailed by financing difficulties or by a restructuring at Dubai World, analysts said.

Dubai World, in June hired AlixPartners, the turnaround experts who are
advising on the General Motors [GM.UL] bankruptcy, to help restructure
its business.

“Part of it is the financing, such a deal is going to be huge. So
getting the finance for this is going to be really difficult, given the
liquidity problems, and even the foreign banks are not that much
(willing) to go in even as consortiums,” said Samer al-Jaouni, general
manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co.

Parent company Dubai World said in May it was in talks to sell a stake
in the port operator after it was approached by a regional private
equity firm to sell a minority stake.

Dubai World said on Friday the chief executive of its Istithmar World
unit, David Jackson, would continue to lead the firm, after reports his
position was under review.

Dubai World has $59 billion of liabilities, a large proportion of the Gulf emirate’s total debt.

The company, which owns U.S. luxury chain Barney’s New York
[DBWLDB.UL], in August hired an advisory firm to help it mull options
to shore up Barney’s financial position.

UBS upgraded DP World to “buy” from “neutral,” and said it was poised to benefit from a strong recovery of global trade in 2010.

Source: Reuters

Search to find what you want

• DP World says not yet been addressed in order to sell shares

    Port operator DP World DPW.DI has never been approached to sell a stake to a private equity firm and any decision would be up to the company’s board, Chief Executive Mohammed Sharaf said on Thursday. “There is no update … we haven’t been approached by anybody,” he said in a conference call.  

• DP World is not u0026quot

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• Dubai Istithmar launches auction ISS Banker

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• DP World free \ u0026quot, from 59 billion U.S. dollars debt with parents

    One of the world’s largest global ports operator – DP World – has not been implicated by its parent company’s plan to delay repayment on some of its $59 billion worth of current liabilities. “The Government of Dubai has confirmed that DP World and its debt are not included in

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• Drydocks not included rebuilding in Dubai World

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• DP World says makes debt service on time

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