PD Ports looks to sell 50% stake, values business at £2bn

The port operator, which makes 90% of its revenue through its Teesport and Hartlepool sites, appears to be banking on the government’s green agenda to boost its saleability.

The Canadian-owned company has 11 sites across the UK, with its two most profitable locations situated within the Teesside Freeport, which as well as offering tax and customs breaks to companies operating within the zone also boasts a range of green credentials.

These sustainability achievements seem to have encouraged owner Brookfield Asset Management to put PD Ports on the market again, following an unsuccessful attempt in 2021.

That sale was scrapped following a dispute with South Tees Development Corporation over access rights. The High Court eventually found primarily in PD Ports’ favour.

According to the Sunday Times, marketing documents have now been distributed to potentially interested buyers, with investment bankers CIBC and RBC overseeing the process.

The brochure is said to directly quote Ed Miliband, underlining the importance of green energy to the government’s agenda and highlighting its mission to make Britain a ‘clean energy superpower’ by 2030.

This emphasis on green technology may have affected Brookfield’s projected annual EBITDA of £100m, which, with estimates of a 20 year valuation being sought, would lead to the £2bn price tag.

The freeport’s green credentials include a GE Renewable Energy manufacturing facility, the Tees Offshore Manufacturing Centre, and Net Zero Teesside – the UK’s largest carbon capture, utilisation, and storage project.

Clean energy technologies such as the turbine blades used on the wind farms are also manufactured on site.

The freeport’s location in the Tees Valley also means that it is in close proximity to most of the UK’s wind farms, with 80% being less than a day’s travel by ship. This includes Dogger Bank, the world’s largest offshore wind farm.