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Shares in P&O Trade for Last Time NewsMax.com Wires LONDON -- British shipping icon P&O traded on the London Stock Exchange for the last time Tuesday, the day before the company's formal delisting Wednesday. The retirement of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. from the exchange follows Monday's approval from the British courts for its controversial takeover by Dubai's state-owned DP World. The deal was delayed when Miami-based cargo handler Eller & Co. lodged a last-minute objection to the deal, arguing that U.S. concerns about a United Arab Emirates company owning significant operations at six major U.S. seaports could harm its business. Eller's appeal was dismissed and the deal granted the necessary court approval. P&O, which was founded in 1837 and carried cargo throughout the British empire to Sydney, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong and other colonies in its heyday, said shares will end trading at the close of the session Tuesday and remain suspended until the close of business Wednesday when they will be delisted. They will also be removed from the Sydney and Tokyo exchanges. The shares ended up 0.4 percent at 519.75 pence ($9.02) on the London exchange. That was in line with the 520 pence ($9.03) per share, or a total of 3.9 billion pounds ($6.77 billion), cash offer for the company from DP World. Story Continues Below
The FTSE Group, the global index provider, said that P&O will be replaced in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index by steel company Corus Group Ltd., the highest-ranked company on the reserve list. P&O runs shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia _ a fact that has caused unease among some lawmakers and businesses in the United States who have cited security concerns about an Arab company taking over the ports. The deal would also give DP World a lesser role in other dockside activities at 16 other American seaports. DP World has attempted to defuse some of the tension by saying the U.S. ports will remain separate to the overall deal and submitting itself to a second 45-day investigation by the U.S. government, despite already receiving regulatory approval.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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