Keep Our Port Public

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10469847

Lyttelton Port is 75 per cent owned by Christchurch City Council.

Port Otago – which holds a 15 per cent stake, worth almost $40 million, in listed rival Lyttelton Port – is tipped to lead changes which could see a merger between the South Island operators.

Port Otago chairman John Gilks has rejected reports this week there had been working committee talks between the ports. [Continuar Lendo →]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4231604a23399.html

Hong Kong giant Hutchison Whampoa made an approach to buy a stake in the Ports of Auckland after its failure to shore up a deal with Lyttelton Port, inside sources say.
Hutchison, the vehicle of magnate Li Ka-shing, has port operations in every continent except Australasia. It is one of the world’s largest privately-owned operators of container terminals with a network of 45 ports.
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) approached the Ports of Auckland after its thwarted attempt to take a 50.1% stake in Lyttelton Port last year, a move which sparked talk of consolidation in the sector. [Continuar Lendo →]

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) shares have closed at a record high amidst renewed interest in the port sector and speculation of ports merging.

LPC shares yesterday closed 8c higher at 248c, a new peak in their 12-month range which saw them as low as 190c. Shares in South Port, based in Bluff, closed 10c higher at 250c, equalling this month’s record peak.

Port of Tauranga rose 14c to 699c, just off the top of its 12-month peak of 700c.

Read full story here.

by Murray Horton

Watchdog 112 (August 2006) ran a very detailed cover story on the successful campaign to stop the Christchurch City Council from selling off the Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) to Hutchison Port Holdings of Hong Kong – “Lyttelton Port Company Sale Dead In The Water: We’ve Won The Battle, But Not Yet The War To Keep Our Port Public”, by Murray Horton, which can be read online at http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/12/01.htm [Continuar Lendo →]

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By Otago Daily Times Business Reporter Simon Hartley

A merger proposal between arch-rivals Port Otago and listed Lyttelton Port, of Christchurch, is likely to be on the table this year, with the Dunedin company keen for talks to begin in coming months. [Continuar Lendo →]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10405562

By Martin Johnston

Auckland’s hard-fought public ownership of its port company faces being partially reversed through a merger with its Tauranga competitor. [Continuar Lendo →]

The Keep Our Port Public coalition (KOPP) has recently closed a petition, which gathered nearly 3,000 signatures, calling on the Christchurch City Council not to sell any of the Lyttelton Port Company to Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd of Hong Kong or any other foreign or New Zealand company, and for the Council to commit to keeping the Port Company in 100% public ownership. [Continuar Lendo →]

You are invited to the inaugural public meeting of the Keep Our Port Public Otago Branch. [Continuar Lendo →]

Dear Members of the Christchurch City Council:

I am president of the All Japan Dockworkers Union, an organization of dockworkers in Japan. On behalf of the All Japan Dockworkers Union, I hereby request that the City Council does not allow the sale of any shares it owns on Lyttleton Port Company to Hutchinson Port Holdings of Hong Kong or Hutchinson to operate the port terminals. [Continuar Lendo →]