Dubai’s DP World raises stake in Brazilian port to 100%

Dubai ports operator DP World said on Monday it had completed the purchase of an additional 66.67 per cent stake in Empresa Brasileira de Terminais Portuários (Embraport), Brazil’s largest private multi-modal port terminal.

DP World purchased the stake from Odebrecht Transport (OTP), the parent company of which has been selling assets since being caught up in one of Brazil’s biggest corruption scandals.

The deal raises DP World’s shareholding to 100 per cent in Embraport, which will be rebranded to DP World Santos.

DP World, which announced last month it would develop an economic zone in Somaliland, did not disclose the transaction value but said the purchase consideration was below 5 per cent of the company’s net asset value as of the first half of 2017.

DP World Santos, which has an annual capacity of 1.2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), operates in the Port of Santos, which is the busiest container port in Latin America handling 3.4 million TEU in 2016, with 90 per cent of the cargo bound for São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city.

DP World’s interest in Embraport dates back to 2009 when it and Odebrecht entered into a partnership to acquire a majority stake in the terminal.

Elsewhere in South America, Embraport has a network of container terminals in Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Suriname.