Dubai Ports World, the company whose acquisition of several major U.S. port operations ignited a political firestorm earlier this year, has agreed to sell those operations to AIG Global Investment Group. The company announced the deal Monday, but gave no details of the sales price. The operations at six major U.S. seaports in New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miamia, Tampa and New Orleans were valued at approximately $700 million. The deal also involves loading operations in 16 locations along the eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast and a passenger terminal in New York City. While we are disappointed to be exiting the U.S. market, the price we received was fair, said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World, in a statement announcing the deal. AIG Global Investment Group is an asset management firm with more than $635 billion in assets. DP World is based in the United Arab Emirates and is the largest marine terminal operator with 51 terminals in 24 countries. The company was set to acquire the port operations from a British company last January. But despite administration approval, the deal was subject to fierce public attack and was assailed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
