A consortium of investors has thrown its weight behind a £2bn bid for Teesside’s PD Ports.
The Duke of Northumberland’s Northumberland Estates, Legal & General, Credit Suisse and Pension Insurance Corporation have joined forces with the South Tees Development Corporation to bid for Britain’s fifth largest port, which recently was awarded a low-tax freeport status.
Brookfield, which has owned PD Ports since 2009, is sending sale packs out to prospective buyers detailing £75m of earnings this year and the potential for more than £200m of underlying earnings by 2030, partly through realising freeport benefits.
The first round of bids are due by 6 September.
The deal team is being led by Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor and a rising star in the Conservative Party. An acquisition of the logistics hub would allow the buyer to integrate Teesport into the wider Teesside freeport.
Teesport, which spans 4,500 acres and is at the heart of the Teesworks redevelopment zone, was one of eight freeports announced by Rishi Sunak in March.
Freeport status offers simplified planning, lower customs duties and tax breaks including business rates relief and the suspension of VAT.
