One of the world’s biggest investment firms is mulling a £1billion bid for two British ports as it builds on its £50billion North Sea asset spree.
Macquarie Group - which has over £610billion in assets under management - mulling a £1billion bid for PD Ports, a logistics empire spanning the strike-plagued port of Felixstowe in the south to Teesport in the north of England.
The Times reports that it has rekindled its interest after PD Ports’ owner, the Canadian private equity giant Brookfield, halted an auction of the business in November amid a legal row with the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), which owns the land surrounding Teesport.
Bids in the original auction are said to have reached about £1.3billion, but the economic backdrop, financing environment and performance of PD Ports have deteriorated in the ensuing ten months. Brookfield was originally seeking £2billion for the business, but City sources said that if Macquarie submits a bid, it is likely be nearer £1 billion.
Macquarie declined to comment.
UK spending
The speculation follows a North Sea spending spree by Macquarie, which is backing the UKCS to become the green energy hub of Europe.
It has been acquiring offshore wind farms, pipelines and networks that will be in prime position to produce, carry and store the clean hydrogen that could replace gas heating in homes across Britain.
Earlier this year it emerged that it has poured more than £50billion into UK assets since 2005, many of which are in the North Sea.
The news is a significant boost for the North East Scotland Green Freeport bid, which aims to transform the region into the continent's net zero capital.
“The UK has a great opportunity to be the energy hub of Europe,” Martin Bradley, head of infrastructure investments for Macquarie Asset Management in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
'We believe in the North Sea'
The UK wants to be net zero 2050, and clean energy has gained even more momentum since Russia invaded Ukraine.
While extracting much more natural gas from the North Sea’s depleted fields may not be possible, its shallow waters and gusty winds are a boon for the renewable electricity needed to make green hydrogen.
Mr Bradley added: “We believe in the North Sea for energy storage. I think UK hydrogen production needs to be offshore.