Razon-led International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has taken over the operations of a container terminal in Brazil.

The listed firm told the stock exchange Friday it has completed all regulatory approvals for its acquisition of Libra Terminal Rio S.A. (Libra Rio), the concessionaire for Terminal de Conteineres 1 (T1Rio) at the Port of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“All conditions precedent and required regulatory approvals have been obtained and the transfer of the facilities to ICTSI management has been set on the 12th of December 2019,” it said in a disclosure on Friday.

The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary ICTSI Americas B.V. signed in July the share purchase agreement with Boreal Empreendimentos e Participacoes S.A. to buy 86,126,660 shares in Libra Rio amounting to 740 million Brazilian Reais (approximately P10.1 billion).

“The transaction will expand ICTSI’s footprint in the Brazilian container terminal market and is expected to generate value-accretive returns for ICTSI’s shareholders,” the company said.

ICTSI currently operates Suape Container Terminal at the Port of Suape in Brazil.

It is also present in other areas in Latin America through terminals at the Port of Guayaquil in Ecuador; Port of La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Port of Manzanillo and Port of Tuxpan in Mexico; Port of Buenaventura in Colombia and Puerto Cortes in Honduras.

Meanwhile, the company said on Friday it has received its second partial repayment from the Sudanese Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning in relation to its aborted takeover of the South Port Container Terminal at the Port of Sudan.

“ICTSI would like to inform the Exchange that it had earlier received from the Sudanese Government a second partial repayment of the Upfront Fee in the amount of AED110,190,000,” it said. The repayment is equivalent to approximately P1.52 billion.

The Sudanese government was supposed to turn over the South Port Container Terminal to ICTSI in April but was delayed due to the country’s ongoing political instability.

The company was paid 195.2 million euros (approximately P11.04 billion) in August for the first partial repayment.

“We continue productive discussions with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of the Sudan for the refund of the remaining balance of the Upfront Fee under the terms of the Refund Bond,” the company said Friday.

ICTSI reported an attributable net income of $184.9 million in the first nine months of the year, up 29% from last year, on the back of higher volumes and tempered expenses.

Shares in the firm at the stock exchange gained 4.60 points or 3.79% to P126 each on Friday. — Denise A. Valdez

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