PSA International unit to buy majority stake in Polish intermodal operator

SINGAPORE - Temasek-owned port operator PSA International, through its subsidiary PSA Baltics, signed an agreement to acquire an 85 per cent majority stake in Polish intermodal operator Loconi International.

The Singapore-based port group announced in a bourse filing on the night of Aug 10 that it will acquire the stake from publicly traded Polish freight forwarder ATC Cargo, but that the transaction is still subject to approval from the relevant authorities.

PSA International said the move will allow the group to enhance existing hinterland connections from Poland’s largest container terminal, the Baltic Hub, and extend the port’s reach into new markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

In March 2019, PSA International announced it had signed an agreement with the Polish Development Fund and the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund to jointly acquire 100 per cent of the deep-sea terminal Baltic Hub, which is located in the Polish port city of Gdansk.

The hub’s rail terminal currently handles more than 500 trains each month, said the press release.

Loconi, which was established in 2011, runs 220 trains every month and handles approximately 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units each year, added the filing.

Mr Vincent Ng, regional chief executive officer of PSA Europe and Mediterranean and PSA Middle East South Asia, said: “Loconi will play an important part in our node-to-network strategy in going beyond terminal services and growing our role as a port ecosystem player, through the development of port-adjacent services, such as intermodal connectivity and digitalisation.”

THE BUSINESS TIMES