P&O to sell its 50% in P&O Nedlloyd

LONDON (AFX) – Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co said P&O Nedlloyd,
its 50-50 joint venture with Royal Nedlloyd NV, is to become an independent
company with a separate listing.
P&O said the move is part of a deal that will see Royal Nedlloyd buy P&O’s
50 pct stake in the venture.
P&O will receive 215 mln eur in cash for the sale of the stake and a 25 pct
interest in the new company, valuing the deal at 485 mln eur.
Nedlloyd will fund the deal through a 190 mln eur rights issue with the
balance being paid from existing cash resources.
Royal Nedlloyd will be renamed Royal P&O Nedlloyd NV on completion of the
transaction and will consolidate P&O Nedlloyd as a 100 pct subsidiary.
The new company will continue to operate using its existing trade name P&O
Nedlloyd.
The board of Royal P&O Nedlloyd will consist of two executive directors and
seven non-executive directors. The executive directors will be CEO Philip Green,
and a chief financial officer.
The non-executive directors will be Andrew Land (chairman), Neelie Kroes,
Haddo Meijer, Robert Woods, Nick Luff (the latter two being nominated by P&O)
and two independent appointees.
As for current trading, P&O Nedlloyd believes that the supply/demand balance
in the industry is favourable and “hence the outlook is positive”.
Separately, P&O said overall trading remains consistent with the board’s
expectations at the time of the third quarter trading update on Nov 13 last
year.
“The board expects to confirm that the final dividend for the year ended Dec
31 2003 will remain unchanged at 9 pence, making a total of 13.5p for the year.
“In 2004, Ports is continuing to experience strong growth although the
difficult trading environment for Ferries shows little sign of improvement,” the
company said.