IFM Investors bought a 64% interest in Associated British Ports, the UK's biggest port operator. A person with knowledge of the deal, who requested anonymity, said the purchase values the company at roughly £10 billion, or $13.4 billion, making it one of the year's largest UK transactions.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Omers sold their holdings after investing since 2015 and 2006, respectively. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC remains a shareholder. IFM won out over other contenders that Bloomberg News reported were in the hunt, including Apollo Global Management and KKR.
Associated British Ports counts 19 facilities, according to a Tuesday statement. It traces back to the 1980s privatization and listing of the British Transport Docks Board, and it was taken private in 2006 by a group that included Omers.
IFM already owns ports in Europe, including in Poland and Turkey, and its website says it oversees $96 billion in infrastructure investments. Its portfolio also includes Manchester Airports Group and Anglian Water, and ownership of the firm sits with 15 Australian pension funds together with the UK's National Employment Savings Trust. The AB Ports transaction remains subject to customary approvals from shareholders and regulators and is slated to close in the first half of 2027.
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This ranks among the UK's largest transactions this year, appearing next to Nuveen's £9.9 billion purchase of Schroders Plc and to Apollo's £5.7 billion move to buy the budget airline EasyJet Plc. For portfolio builders watching infrastructure, IFM's move underscores ongoing demand for core transport assets that can deliver steady, regulated-like cash flows.
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