British shipping and property giant Peninsular and Oriental (P&O) has entered into a US$1.5 billion merger of its containers business with Nedlloyd, of the Netherlands.
The deal, which will create a company with a turnover of $4 billion, is said to be one of the largest in world container shipping.
Shares in P&O, which owns 25 per cent of Shenzhen's Shekou Port and 22.5 per cent of Sinor in Tianjin, soared on the news in London, while in Amsterdam Nedlloyd also saw its stock make strong advances as investors gave their approval of the merger.
Talks to set up the company, to be called P&O Nedlloyd Container Line, have been underway for six months.
It was estimated yesterday that from a total cost base of $3.9 billion, the deal would generate savings of more than $200 million.
The new company will have net operating assets of $2 billion and equity of $1.5 billion.