DESPITE WEEKS insisting it would hang on to the stake in six US ports that Dubai-based DP World acquired in its takeover of P&O Ports, the company now intends to transfer them to “a US entity”, according to Edward Bilkey, chief operating officer of DP World. It followed increasing pressure in the US congress – where doubts were raised about the security threat in having Middle Eastern ownership of the port operations, and the appropriations committee voting 62 to two in favour of a ban. In a statement from Bilkey published in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, he said: “DP World will transfer fully the US operations of P&O Ports North America to a US entity. “This decision is based on an understanding that DP World will have time to effect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that it will not suffer an economic loss.”
