IFM agrees controlling stake purchase in ABP at reported £10bn-plus valuation

Australian infrastructure investor IFM Investors has agreed to buy control of Associated British Ports (ABP), Britain’s largest port operator, Splash247 reported. Canadian pension investors CPP Investments and OMERS will sell their combined 63.88% holding to Global Infraco Haven Bidco, an indirect subsidiary of the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund. The agreement has yet to complete.

ABP disclosed the binding agreement in a London Stock Exchange announcement. Financial terms were not made public, but Splash247 cited Financial Times reporting that put the value of the business above £10bn ($13.4bn). The valuation relates to ABP as a business, rather than a disclosed price for the stake being acquired. According to Splash247, IFM prevailed over rival bidders KKR, Apollo and Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.

The acquisition would give IFM control of a network of 21 British ports, among them Southampton, Immingham and the Humber complex. ABP handles roughly a quarter of Britain’s seaborne trade, Splash247 said. Its operations cover container cargo, vehicles and bulk commodities, alongside cruise shipping and infrastructure serving offshore energy, giving the group a role across several shipping and energy markets.

The sale would close a two-decade period of Canadian investment in ABP. OMERS joined the consortium that took the operator private for £2.8bn in 2006, while CPP Investments bought its stake in 2015. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Kuwait’s Wren House Infrastructure remain minority investors. IFM itself is owned by Australian and British pension funds and manages approximately $96bn of infrastructure assets worldwide.

The ownership agreement comes alongside ABP’s investment programme across its ports. Splash247 previously reported in August that the operator was progressing a £500m project at Port Talbot in Wales, intended to create a major manufacturing and assembly hub for floating offshore wind. Completion of the stake purchase remains conditional on regulatory approvals and mandatory UK national security filings.