Yilport moves on from LBCT loss

Speaking after its subsidiary Yilport Holding lost out on the Long Beach Container Terminal concession when Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL) decided to award it to Australia’s Macquarie Group last month, the company’s director of government affairs and corporate relations, Kemal Ekin Aysel, said the concession decision was a “disappointment” but it wouldn’t be commenting further.

“We will not comment further on the LBCT deal, it’s over for us,” said Mr Aysel. “The winners are Macquarie, and we are looking forward to new opportunities. After this disappointment, we started a silent period. Hopefully we will sign the Gulfport deal this summer, and then we will start talking.”

LOI

Yilport and the Mississippi State Port Authority have executed a letter of intent (LOI) to negotiate the long-term Gulfport container terminal concession, which will be the first US investment for the company.

Port of Gulfport are nearing completion of a US570m restoration project. If the container terminal concession goes ahead, Yilport will invest in additional facility and equipment upgrades.

Alongside Yildirim and Macquarie Group, bidders for LBCT included Sweden-based multinational private-equity group EQT Infrastructure and U.S. fund Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.

Yilport has previously been in the running to buy Ports America. It also bid for Global Gateway South and was in talks Macquarie about buying three North American terminals.

By Rebecca Jeffrey