Port company deal in Forbes on Jan. 26th! Hello!!Carlyle Group connection

[NVMojo]

LONDON (AFX) - Sir John Parker, chairman of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co, has described the prospect of DP World (DPW), Dubai's state-owned port operator, raising its bid for the British ports, ferries and property group, as 'hypothetical'.

Parker was talking to reporters after P&O announced it has withdrawn its recommendation of DPW's 443 pence a share bid and instead backed a rival 470 pence a share offer from Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd, the group owned by the city state's Temasek Holdings.

PSA's offer values P&O at 3.545 bln stg, a 6 pct increase on DPW's offer, made Nov 29.

more...
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/01/26/afx2477946.html

and here you have the Carlyle Group involved back in 2002, along with the US Treasury Secretary:

http://www.bridgedeck.org/mmp_news_archive/2002/mmp_news021219.html

[NVMojo]

1. more on Sir John Parker here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x473600

[NVMojo]

2. more on the sale deal here. why didn't the US know?

Singapore Ports scraps P&O bid interest
By Miles Costello


DP World, the Dubai state-backed ports operator was poised to secure control of P&O today after its rival Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), dropped out of the £3.9 billion bid race for the world's fourth-largest ports group.


Shares in P&O lost nearly 4 per cent of their value after PSA said it was not prepared to match or trump DP World's 520p a share offer. Management has already recommended DP World's increased bid.

As he reiterated the board's backing for DP World, Sir John Parker, P&O's chairman, said: "The P&O directors recommend unanimously the DP World revised offer and look forward to putting it to stockholders. The combination of P&O and DP World has a compelling strategic logic and will create significant opportunities for both businesses and their employees."


more...

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9077-2034302,00.html

[central scrutinizer]

3. nice acronym!

Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation

POS Navigation - I couldn't have said it better myself

[cal04]

4. Parker

Parker's P&O Raises Sail For PSA's $6.3 Bid

It must have been an amiable London meeting earlier this month between Sir John Parker, chairman of ports, ferries and property group P&O and Fock Siew Wah, the head of Singapore's PSA International. The result: Dubai Ports World's $5.7 billion bid for Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation--as it it formally known--was scuttled, and it was full steam ahead for PSA's. P&O backed PSA's $6.3 billion offer (a 6% increase over DPW) after withdrawing its recommendation for Dubai.

Assuming the deal goes through, it will create the world's largest container port operator, overtaking Hong Kong's Hutchison Ports. Meanwhile, when asked if he thought DPW might up its bid, P&O Chairman Parker said, "We have to deal with things as they are." But here's some food for thought: Dubai might still have friends who could help skunk its Singaporean rival, according to the U.K. Times. That comes as anonymous authors whose briefings have apparently got as far as the U.K.

Parliament have said PSA could get backing from China, on the grounds that it holds a one-fifth stake in the Hong Kong ports of Hutchinson Whampoa. "Should China really guard both ends of Asia’s trade superhighway to Europe?" the document is reportedly titled. Ludicrous? Who knows, but P&O is no ship of fools--it will likely just go for the best price on offer, and shareholders will drink and be merry. --Parmy Olson
http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/27/lloyds-mittal-soccer-cx_po_cn_0128ukfaceweek.html?partner=topix


Bidding War For Parker's P&O?
Just days before the extraordinary general meeting that was expected to handover the helm of P&O to Dubai Ports World, the future of the company is on hold. Rocking the boat is Singapore port operator PSA International, which confirmed today that it has put in a bid for British shipping company that could scuttle Dubai's. Last November, the government-owned DP World offered $5.7 billion for P&O, a bid that has now been trumped by the Singaporian state-owned entity's $6.24 billion, or $8.28 per share, tender. As the sheiks now check their coffers for how much higher Dubai can go, P&O's shareholders will undoubtedly be rubbing their hands at the prospect of a bidding war between the two firms.

http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2006/01/11/peninsular-dpworld-psa-cx_po_0111autofacescan02.html