Dubai Port in deal with AIG to sell US operations

Mumbai: Dubai Ports World will sell its US port operations to an American International Group (AIG) unit and relinquish control of them to allay national security concerns in the US. DP World will conclude a deal with AIG Global Investment Group in the first quarter, reports quoted the Gulf Arab company's chief executive Mohammad Sharaf as saying.

DP World's acquisition of facilities at six major US ports from Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co (P&O) for $6.8 billion in February had been approved by the Bush administration. But lawmakers threatened to block the deal, saying that giving a state-owned Arab company control of US port terminals would create a threat to national security.

DP World had become the world's third-largest container port operator with the acquisition of facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Tampa and New Orleans. P&O's US assets also include stevedoring operations at 16 locations along the eastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts and a passenger terminal in New York City.

DP World offered to sell P&O's US assets at the behest of Dubai's ruler and hold them separately until a suitable buyer could be found following the political storm over the acquisition.

This would be in place until the deal was completed and cleared by regulators, Sharaf said.