China Merchants to buy Nigeria port operator stake

Monday, 8 November 2010 06:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Merchants Holdings International has agreed to form a joint venture that will buy a 47.5 percent stake in a container-terminal operator in Nigeria from Israel’s Zim Integrated Shipping for $154 million.

China Merchants will own 60 percent of the venture, with China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) taking a 40 percent stake after obtaining approval from Chinese regulators, the Chinese port operator said in a statement.

China Development Bank owns CADF, a fund which supports Chinese enterprises in their investment in Africa.

Zim will record a pretax gain of $120 million from the sale, its parent company, Israel Corp, said. Israel Corp shares were up 3.0 percent in morning trade in Tel Aviv.