Tees Valley mayor lines up £1bn bid for Britain’s largest freeport
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen is said to be preparing a £1bn bid to take over Britain’s largest freeport in what could bring a major boost to the area.
Canadian fund manager Brookfield has restarted the sale of PD Ports, which owns the huge Teesport gateway in North Yorkshire, after the process was halted due to the pandemic.
Houchen and his South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) are in talks with Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala to line up funding for a bid, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Brookfield is expected to close a sale by the end of the year, but one source told the newspaper the mayor and STDC were frontrunners to strike a deal.
Middlesbrough-based PD Ports owns seven UK sites, with Teesport its biggest asset. It employs more than 1,300 people across the country.
The sale of the northern port has been hamstrung due to a legal dispute over access to the site, as STDC controls much of the land surrounding it.
The mayor’s officials have applied to the High Court for a declaration that PD Ports only has one legal access route to the port — a move that could deter other potential buyers.
But the company has accused him of attempting to drive down the price of the business.
The government brokered talks between the two sides in a bid to resolve the dispute.
If Houchen’s bid is successful, he plans to pump millions into modernising the facility as part of a wider redevelopment project.
Freeports — specially designated economic zones where normal tax and customs rules do not apply — form a key part of the government’s plans to bolster the UK’s appeal as an investment destination post Brexit.
A Brookfield spokesperson said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire full ownership of a perpetual freehold and landlord port that serves as a critical transportation gateway for local and international trade.
“We have already received expressions of interest from a wide range of potential investors and will release phase one materials to interested parties shortly. We look forward to receiving and assessing all bids in due course.”