US PORTS DEAL LINGERS
WASHINGTON -- A Dubai-owned company announced yesterday that it would sell all its US port operations within four to six months to an unrelated American buyer, completing a multimillion-dollar deal forced by congressional concerns over terrorism security.
Lawmakers who criticized the Bush administration for approving Dubai Ports World's earlier plans to operate in the United States said they were satisfied by the new details from the company. Still, the House voted, 377 to 38, yesterday to formally express its opposition to DP World running any port terminals in the United States.
DP World, the world's third-largest ports company, said that until the sale is finalized, its US businesses will operate independently.
The announcement was the first time it described its plans for the newly acquired US operations as a ''sale" to a single American buyer and indicated it would retain no stake.
Michael Seymour, the president of DP World's US subsidiary, said there was ''already significant interest in the sale from American buyers."
Asked whether a foreign-owned company with its own US subsidiary might qualify, Seymour said: ''An American buyer is exactly what we say it is; it's an American buyer, and we envisage it will be a wholly owned American organization."
DP World said it would provide information about its business to ''interested parties," which it did not identify.
The new disclosures by DP World responded to questions raised since its vague announcement last week that it intended to ''transfer fully" to an unspecified American company the US operations it acquired when it bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion.
''It's important for the company to continue moving forward on what they committed to doing, and we appreciate the step that they took," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
He praised the decision by Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, to sell the US operations to preserve good relations between the countries.
Under the sale, DP World had taken over a US subsidiary with significant operations at ports in New Jersey, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, and Philadelphia -- plus lesser dockside activities at 16 other ports in this country.
DP World has said those US operations are worth roughly $700 million. It agreed to the sale to quell a furor in Congress.
''It certainly appears on its face to achieve what we want, and that's to have a US company running these ports," said US Representative Peter King, a Republican from New York and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. ''I think DP World got the message loudly and clearly."
Another vocal critic, US Representative Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said lawmakers will continue to monitor the corporate negotiations.
''It's not over until it's over," said Hunter, a Republican from California. ''We're optimistic they'll keep their commitment, but the need to secure domestic critical infrastructure extends beyond the Dubai Ports World deal."
Republicans in Congress blocked a Democratic effort yesterday to force votes in the House on expanding government scrutiny of foreign investments. Democrats still planned to seek more money for port security, arguing that Bush administration hadn't done enough.
Almost six in 10 Americans, 58 percent, say they support the congressional opposition to the Dubai ports deal, according to a Pew Research Center poll released yesterday.
But people are still not sure whether transferring operations at the ports to an American company will improve security. Less than half, 46 percent, said that was satisfactory, while more than half said it was either not satisfactory or they were not sure.
Until the sale is completed, DP World said, its US operations will continue to be managed independently by P&O Ports North America Inc., the wholly owned US subsidiary of the British company it bought. That sale was finalized last week.
The largest maritime firms are not based in the United States, although nearly all of them own and operate US subsidiaries. DP World's suitors could include Seattle-based SSA Marine and New Jersey-based Maher Terminals Inc.