Court Blocks Top Africa Port Deal as Maersk Contests Award

(Bloomberg) —

A South African court temporarily blocked a deal between the nation’s state-owned logistics firm and a company owned by Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon to expand and run sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest container port after A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S challenged the award.

Maersk unit APM Terminals was among the unsuccessful bidders in a tender run last year by South Africa’s state-owned Transnet SOC Ltd. to sell almost half of the main terminal in the southeastern city of Durban and operate it for 25 years. The Copenhagen-based company argued in court papers that the preferred candidate, International Container Terminal Services Inc., didn’t meet a stipulated solvency measure.

The so-called interim interdict against Transnet will remain in place until the court hears the second part of the challenge brought by APM Terminals.

Maersk called the decision a “welcomed development” and said in a statement it was preparing for the second part of the legal review process “with confidence, and we remain committed to playing a role in developing South Africa’s infrastructure.”

Transnet said in a seperate statement that it was committed to the judicial process and was evaluating its options.

The decision in the Durban High Court delays the biggest attempt yet to bring in private expertise to revive Transnet’s ports, which rank among the least-efficient in the world, according to a World Bank study. Transnet operates most of South Africa’s ports and its freight railways.

Shipping giant Maersk is the world’s second-largest container line and Denmark’s biggest company by revenue. Subsidiary APM Terminals was the runner-up in the process, according to correspondence with Transnet included in legal documents seen by Bloomberg in May.

Transnet shortlisted the firm along with companies including COSCO Shipping Ports Ltd., DP World Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. and Guangzhou Port Co. Ltd.