Gunvor cancels Murmansk port buyout deal, a source says

The expected deal to buy a control stock in JSC Murmansk Commercial Seaport (MCS) by structures of major oil trader Gunvor has been canceled, PortNews reported citing a source close to the negotiations. According to the source, the result of technical audit of the company did not satisfy potential buyers who said the stake price was too high.


Possible buyout of Murmansk Port was first reported in February this year. According to some media reports, the talks about possible sale of the company began in November 2010. Officially, Gunvor has never confirmed the interest in acquisition of the port. However, a spokesman for Gunvor’s co-owner Gennady Timchenko, had told the Kommersant that "investments in the coal industry is an interesting direction." The businessman refused to say exactly what assets he would be willing to buy.


JSC Murmansk Commercial Seaport was founded in 1994. The stevedore company operates 17 berths of total length of about 3,000 meters at the port of Murmansk. The berths depths allow accommodation of vessels with length of over 265 meters and breadth of 15,5 meters. In 2010, the company handled more than 12,8 million tons of different cargo. Murmansk is a major gateway for Russian coal exports.


The main shareholders of Murmansk Commercial Seaport are Dutch company Specialized Project Investments BV (46.63% of shares) and Russian Govt. (34%).


The Board of Directors of MCS includes: Sergey Gorelik, Victor Yeremin, Leonid Livshits, Vladimir Lobastov, Sergey Maximov, Alexei Milkamanovich, Vladimir Pogodin, Alexander Sergeyev, Anatoly Shadrin.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)