ZIM cargo ship 311.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Israel Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary ZIM Integrated Shipping Services
Ltd.
has sold its 47.5% holding in the Tin Can Island Container Terminal
at the Lagos Port to a joint venture of China Merchants, China Direct
Investments Ltd. and the China-Africa Development Fund for $154 million in
cash.
ZIM will report a gross profit of $120m. on the sale.
Tin
Can Island Container Terminal is Nigeria’s second largest container terminal.
ZIM will also sign a ten-year port of call agreement with the terminal, and sell
additional rights in connection with the asset. ZIM’s partner in the container
terminal is Bollore Logistics Africa, a unit of Paris-based Group Bollore
SA.
ZIM said that the sale was part of its long-term business plan. The
sale was brought forward from its originally planned closing in 2011.
The
Tin Can Island Container Terminal has three berths, with a capacity of 360,000
TEU containers per year. A fourth berth is being upgraded, which will increase
the terminal’s capacity to 400,000 TEU per year.
ZIM has extensive
commercial activities in Nigeria, and operates a number of shipping lines
connecting Asia, Europe and the United States to Nigeria, as well as a fully
owned shipping and logistics agency in Lagos.
ZIM president and CEO Rafi
Danieli said, “ZIM operates on a wide scale in the trade between Asia, Europe
and the United States to Nigeria. In recent years, ZIM made significant
investments to develop the terminal, bringing it to commercial success. The
structure of the current deal ensures the continued partnership between ZIM and
TICT for many years to come, and ZIM’s customers will continue to enjoy the
highest levels of service in Nigeria.”
Danieli added that the proceeds
from the sale would enable the company to develop and expand its shipping
transportation activities in the international lines in Asia, North America and
Europe.
Israel Corp.’s share price rose 2.5% by early afternoon to NIS
4,070, giving a market cap of NIS 30.6 billion.