DP World raises $4.9 billion in stock sale!

DP World, the ship terminal operating company that U.S. politicians shunned, got a warm welcome from investors today as it was able to raise $4.9 billion through a sale of a 23 percent stake to the public.

Far more investors wanted to buy shares in the company than was available – the issue was oversubscribed by 15 times. With that strong demand, the company was able to sell stock for $1.30 per share, the top end of the range that investment bankers had set.

DP World paid $6.8 billion for P&O, the British port operator last year, but was later forced to sell assets in United States after a political firestorm erupted because of security fears raised by an Arab company owning marine terminals in the heart of major American cities.

DP World has 42 existing terminals and 13 new developments across 27 countries and has reportedly said it plans to double its capacity to 90 million containers by 2017.

DP World’s shares are slated to begin trading on the Dubai International Financial Exchange on Monday.

DP world continues to impress...just take this into consideration...

DP World agreed in early October to do a feasibility study to build a $250 million container terminal in Mariel that would start operating in 2012, this is a Havana port! Cuba! Big gamble!

"A deal is in the works. It is moving forward and they have signed various agreements," another person familiar with the plan told many press outlets.

DP World became is the world's third-largest container port business last year when it bought Britain's Peninsular &Oriental Steam Navigation Co. But, as you remember, it was forced to sell P&O's U.S. assets when the Bush administration came under fire for allowing an Arab-owned company to control U.S. ports. (Laughable!)

Critics said the deal involving the ports of New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans posed a threat to U.S. national security. (Weak!)

P&O had planned for several years to rebuild Mariel port, 30 miles west of Havana on the north coast of the Caribbean island, and turn it into a modern container port.

The port of Mariel was the site of a massive boat lift in 1980, when a flotilla of vessels from Florida picked up 125,000 Cubans wanting to leave the Communist-run island.

Its strategic proximity to the United States makes Mariel an attractive investment looking ahead to a time when Cuba is no longer under a U.S. trade embargo, given limited port capacity in the United States, and could give whomever operates it a "first-mover" position in the very near future. Bring the big-ass boats (leviathan class) into Cuba...then feeder the US Gulf and East Coast...great connection for the Suez services I would think...

What would Tony Montana say? "You know what capitalism is? Getting -choose your expletive-!" Maybe that is what the other port operators will be saying about DP World in the very near future!

What do you think?