P&O sells Argentine stake

British shipping group Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co says its Australian subsidiary will sell 37.5 per cent of its stake in an Argentine terminal operator for US$38.8 million.

P&O said it was selling the stake in Terminales Rio de la Plata SA (TRP) to AIG-GE Capital Latin American Infrastructure Fund LP (Latif) and its stake in the operator would now come down to 50 per cent.

TRP operates terminals 1 and 2 at Puerto Nuevo in Buenos Aires under a 25-year concession awarded in September 1994. The terminal achieved 405,000 teu (20 ft equivalent units) in 1997, making it the largest container terminal in Buenos Aires.