The Tory mayor of the Tees Valley has teamed up with a consortium of City investors to mount a £2billion takeover of a major UK ports operator.
Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority are bidding for PD Ports, with backing from Legal & General, the Pension Insurance Corporation, Credit Suisse and the Duke of Northumberland, it was reported yesterday.
Forward thinking: Tory mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority are bidding for PD Ports
PD is owned by Brookfield Asset Management. It runs a string of ports and shipping facilities, including prize asset Teesport, and employs some 1,300 staff. Teesport is part of a new ‘freeport’ on the banks of the River Tees covering 4,500 acres.
These special economic zones allow companies to import and export goods without paying UK tariffs, unless they exit the zone and enter the domestic market.
They have been designated in areas in need of regeneration and are seen as a key plank of the Government’s plan to ‘level up’ the regions.
The takeover of PD Ports would be seen as a major vote of confidence in the policy, while Houchen, 34, and Tees Valley officials hope it will pave the way for an upgrade of Teesport.
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