Forth Ports agrees to takeover bid of £760m

Published on Monday 21 March 2011 22:37

FORTH Ports today announced it had agreed to a £760 million takeover offer by its largest shareholder, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund, after a 10 per cent rise in profits.

The company, which owns and operates seven commercial UK ports, said Arcus, which has a 23.5 per cent stake in the company, would pay 1,630 pence per Forth Ports share it does not already own, plus a dividend of 20 pence per share.

Forth Ports today reported an underlying pretax profit of 36.6m for 2010.

Shares in Forth Ports, which have risen 12 per cent in the last month, closed at 1,614 pence yesterday, valuing the business at around 735m.

The company gave Arcus access to its books earlier this month after Arcus made a 745m takeover approach.

Forth Ports Chairman David Richardson said: "The Arcus offer gives Forth Ports shareholders the opportunity to realise their investment for cash at a fair price."

As well as Leith, Forth Ports manages and owns five other ports in Scotland, including Grangemouth, Dundee and Rosyth, as well Tilbury on London's river Thames.

Meanwhile, Cairn Energy reported record annual revenues of approximately 979m and profit after tax of 673m.

Chief executive Sir Bill Gammell said: "Cairn is continuing its active exploration programme offshore Greenland which has the potential for transformational growth."

The completion of a pipeline from the company's Mangala field boosted production.

Crude oil from the fields in Rajastan is now being pumped through the world's longest continuously heated pipeline. The total resource base supports potential production of 240,000 barrels of oil a day.