Teesside mayor eyes £1bn bid for Britain's biggest freeport
Source Daily Telegraph - 11/07/21
Ben Houchen is understood to be in discussions with Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, among others, to line up funding for a bid
Teesside mayor Ben Houchen is in talks with three potential backers over a £1bn takeover tilt which could significantly bolster the UK’s biggest freeport.
Canadian fund manager Brookfield has formally restarted the sale of PD Ports, owner of the vast Teesport container gateway, after the process was delayed by the pandemic.
Brookfield is expected to close a sale by the end of the year, but one source said that Mr Houchen and his South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) were likely favourites to strike a deal.
It is understood that the mayor and STDC are in discussions with Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, another international investor and a potential domestic backer to line up funding for a bid.
Middlesbrough-based PD Ports, which employs more than 1,300 people and traces its origins back to 1852, has seven UK sites, with Teesport its biggest asset.
But the port is surrounded by land controlled by the STDC and a legal dispute over access to the site has hampered a sale.
Mr Houchen is aiming to take control of Teesport to bring it into what is already one of the largest development zones in Europe, and invest billions in modernising the facility.
A reported £2bn valuation for the business was described by one source as “fanciful” due to the legal row.
The mayor’s officials have applied to the High Court for a declaration that PD Ports only has one legal access route to the port - which could deter potential buyers - but the operator accused him in court documents of attempting to drive down the value of the business to buy it cheaply.
Talks between Brookfield and the mayor, brokered by the Government’s Office for Investment, took place in June to resolve the impasse.
New freeport locations across England
A Brookfield spokesperson said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire full ownership of a perpetual freehold and landlord port that serves as a critical transportation gateway for local and international trade.
“We have already received expressions of interest from a wide range of potential investors and will release phase one materials to interested parties shortly. We look forward to receiving and assessing all bids in due course.”
Mr Houchen, who has already taken the region’s airport into public ownership after he was first elected in 2017, declined to comment.
Mubadala has already signed an investment agreement with the UK to pump £800m into life sciences in March, and is in discussions over further potential investments in clean energy, technology and infrastructure.
Coventry Airport owner submits plans for huge gigafactory
Source - Daily Telegraph 15/07/21
Hope that securing planning permission will make the site more attractive for battery manufacturers seeking a UK base
Coventry is pulling ahead in the race to attract a developer to build a major new electric car battery plant, with plans pre-emptively submitted for approval for a major development at Coventry Airport.
Coventry City Council and airport bosses hope that securing planning permission will make the site more attractive for battery manufacturers seeking a UK base as they seize on the boom in electric cars.
New large-scale battery facilities - known as gigafactories - are seen as key to the future of the UK's automotive sector as petrol and diesel engines are phased out.
It is particularly important for the West Midlands, an automotive heartland where major manufacturers Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin Lagonda and BMW employ thousands of people.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street said: “It is mission critical that the West Midlands secures a gigafactory, both for the future of our region’s automotive industry and the huge economic and job benefits it would bring, as well as the future of our planet.
"I am therefore delighted that after years of collaborative work, we have now been able to reach this milestone moment of formally submitting a planning application for our preferred site."
Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport have set up a joint venture to promote and prepare the site.
They have submitted outline proposals to Coventry City Council and Warwick District Council for a 5.7 million square foot factory for battery production and recycling.
It is understood the plans would allow for a factory capacity of up to 60GWh - bigger than Tesla's 50GWh factory in Berlin.
West Midlands also plans to bid for funding from a £500m UK Government pot available to help get gigafactories off the ground.
Jaguar Land Rover's Whitley plant is around two miles from the site and securing the company's interest would be a major coup for Coventry.
However, JLR said yesterday it was "exploring all options at this time to find the right position on the new value chain. No decisions have been made.”
The UK had a boost this month when Nissan and its Chinese partner Envision AESC announced £1bn investment into scaling up electric car and battery production in Sunderland.
Start-up Britishvolt has also secured planning permission for a 30GWh plant in Blyth, Northumberland.
Battery weight and trade rules mean car manufacturers will want to be close to battery production, and there are fears they could relocate abroad without battery factories here.
About one-third of UK cars are produced in the West Midlands.
Comments
Post a Comment