Press Releases
OOO Sberbank Capital Acquires a Stake in Global Ports (GPI) Group
N-Trans group of companies and OOO Sberbank Capital announce the acquisition of 10% of shares of Global Ports (GPI) group by OOO Sberbank Capital.
Mr. Nikita Mishin, chairman of the Board of Global Ports, provided the following comments on the transaction: “We are glad to have Sberbank Capital became our partner. The fact that our group now has a large financial investor is another proof of our development strategy a confirmation of a significant potential of Global Ports terminals. Today when the number of opportunities in the capital markets is decreasing, we welcome the largest Russian financial institution among Global Ports shareholders as it clearly expands growth opportunities for our terminals and supports our future investments in the most promising areas of stevedoring operations in Russia.”
Mr. Ashot Hachaturyants, General director of OOO Sberbank Capital, said when commenting on the deal: “We are very positive in our evaluation of the potential of the port sector of the Russian economy and Global Ports specifically. We believe in the prospects of growth of infrastructure projects; in our opinion these projects will provide a lucrative long-term return. We expect that as the global financial markets recover, the companies that are leaders in their respective industries will be able to show strong performance.”
Moscow, June 11, 2009
Background
OOO Sberbank Capital was registered on June 17, 2008. The company is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Sberbank (Savings Bank of Russia). The company implements projects in residential and commercial real estate, energy and power sectors, coal industry as well as in expansion projects for the Russian transport system.
N-Trans Group is the leading private operator in the transport services market in Russia, CIS and Baltic countries. N-Trans is a large transport services and infrastructure holding. Prior to 2008 the company was known as Severstaltrans; it was established in March 1996. Railroad freight transportation, container transportation and infrastructure investments are the main areas of the group’s operations. N-Trans includes more than 20 companies operating in different sectors of transport services market. The group includes railroad operators, container terminals, freight forwarding and agency companies. Globaltrans – a railroad operator company that is a member of N-Trans group – was the first Russian railroad company to successfully place its shares in the London market through its IPO in May 2008.
Global Ports Investments Plc (GPI) is one of Russia’s leading container terminal operators. In 2008 GPI companies handled 1,326 million TEU, which is more than 30% of all container traffic at Russian ports. It also operates the largest oil transfer terminal in the Baltic Region: its throughput totalled 15.7 million tonnes of petroleum products; the company’s share of Russia’s total petroleum exports exceeds 30%. Global Ports Investments Plc. (GPI) is part of the N-Trans Group.
Global Ports’ terminals are located in the Baltic and Far Eastern basins – key gateways for Russian container imports and exports. Global Ports’ container terminals are ports of final destination. Global Ports' container terminals include the second-largest container terminal in Russia’s Northwest Region, Petrolesport (St. Petersburg); the largest container terminal in the Far Eastern Basin, Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (VSC); the third-largest container terminal in St. Petersburg, Moby Dik; the first mixed use inland container logistics complex, Yanino (St. Petersburg), which is now under construction; and two marine terminals and five inland terminals in Finland and Poland. GPI’s strategic partner DP World owns 25% of VSC, while 25% of Moby Dik, Yanino and the Finnish terminals belong to strategic partner Container Finance Oy.
Global Ports’ oil terminal, Vopak E.O.S. (VEOS), is the largest oil transfer terminal in the Baltic Region (by throughput) and the only independent terminal of its class on the Baltic that can accept VLCC class tankers. Global Ports’ strategic partner Royal Vopak NV owns 50% of VEOS.