DP World Finalizes Fraser Surrey Docks Acquisition

DP World, the world's fourth-largest container terminal operator, said it has completed the acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks in British Columbia, Canada.
DP World, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had announced last May that it would acquire Fraser Surrey Docks at Port Metro Vancouver from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. The acquisition was conducted by Canadian subsidiary DP World Canada Investment Inc., which is 45% owned by Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec.

DP World also operates the Centerm container terminal in downtown Vancouver, the Fairview container terminal in Prince Rupert, the Port of Nanaimo in British Columbia and the Port of Saint John in New Brunswick. Fraser Surrey Docks is in the greater Vancouver area of Surrey, British Columbia, along the banks of the Fraser River.

The Wall Street Journal reported that DP World paid $290 million for Fraser Surrey Docks.

DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said in a statement, "DP World has been seeing growing demand from our customers for multipurpose facilities in the region and we believe Fraser Surrey Docks has the relevant infrastructure and is in the right location to service this demand."

Fraser Surrey Docks handled more than 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2019, according to DP World.

DP World said in its press release this week that its global strategy is "to connect directly with customers to offer logistics solutions and remove inefficiencies in the supply chain to accelerate trade."

DP World's 2019 highlights included:

• A 30-year concession for the management and development of the Jeddah South Container Terminal at the multipurpose Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia.

• The acquisition of a 77% stake in Asian ocean shipping feeder and short-sea carrier Feedertech.

• An agreement to create a $1.2 billion container port and industrial logistics port in East Java, Indonesia.

• The acquisition of Topaz Energy and Marine Ltd., which has a fleet of 117 vessels serving the oil and gas industry.

• An agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Rosatom and Norilsk Nickel for the development of the Northern Sea Route.

• Buying back U.K. short-sea transportation services provider P&O Ferries.

DP World (NDAQ DXB: DPW) said last week it would delist and return to full state ownership. Parent company Port and Free Zone World will acquire the 19.55% DP World shares traded on Nasdaq Dubai.

"Returning to private ownership will free DP World from the demands of the public market for short-term returns, which are incompatible with this industry, and enable the company to focus on implementing our mid- to long-term strategy to build the world's leading logistics provider, backed by our global-spanning network of ports, economic zones, industrial parks, feeders and inland transportation," Bin Salayem said.