Germans pick up major investment in northwest

The Daily News provided a bit of local feedback to the purchase of Maher Terminals by RREEF Infrastructure, a division of Deutsche Bank.

As we recounted on the Podunk site on Tuesday, the giant German financial group has agreed to purchased Maher, giving them a hold on two important gateways to North America, one in new Jersey and the soon to be completed container port at Fairview here in Prince Rupert.

The Daily News story was the page one headline in Wednesday’s paper.

MAHER TERMINALS BOUGHT BY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER
Division of the Deutsche Bank brings deep pockets
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Page one

The Port of Prince Rupert sees the purchase of Maher Terminals - the operator of the new Fairview Container Terminal - by RREEF Infrastructure as a good thing.

RREEF Infrastructure, a part of the RREEF Alternative Investments, global alternatives asset management business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division, announced yesterday it has agreed to purchase Maher Terminals, a privately-held operator of Port terminal facilities in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, and the Port of Prince Rupert.

“This can be viewed as a positive development for the Prince Rupert project,” said Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

“Container ports operate on a global scale and require mega dollars to ensure they are built and remain competitive.”

The acquisition will be made through Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., a RREEF affiliate.

“This brings to the equation new owners with deep pockets,” said Krusel.

“I suppose you can read in to this that the Prince Rupert project is seen as a favourable investment.”

Maher Terminals was selected as the operator of the new 500,000 TEU (containers per year) terminal in Prince Rupert more than a year ago.

The new terminal is a $170 million partnership between Maher, CN Rail, the federal and provincial governments and Port of Prince Rupert.

Meanwhile, the port is already planning Phase Two of the terminal, which will expand to capacity to two million TEU’s annually and discussing Phase Three, a second terminal on Ridley Island.

Apparently, the new port facility was part of the attraction for RREEF Infrastructure.

“We believe Maher Terminals represents the best assets combined with the very best management team in the industry,” said David Kerr, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager with RREEF.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to operate in both Port Elizabeth and the Port of Prince Rupert, two of the most prized and most promising terminals in North America.”

RREEF had $73 billion in assets at the end of 2006, and was named the world’s largest alternative investment manager in a survey last September.

“As the environment changes in the port industry, RREEF provides Maher increased ability to compete on a global level,” said M. Brian Maher, Chairman and CEO of Maher Terminals. “Their vision of growth and value creation will lead us into the future as we grow our existing terminal business and compete additional capacity in the North American market.”

The company will retain the Maher name and the acquisition will not affect the leadership of Maher Terminals.

It will also keep its headquarters in New Jersey.

The purchase is not expected to speed up the pace of development for Phase Two, said Krusel, as that pace is set by outside factors such as the speed of permits and engineering design.