China Merchants to take over ports facility

China Merchants Holdings, which owns stakes in the country's five largest ports, is to spend US$408 million to take control of Shekou Container Terminals in Shenzhen, Bloomberg reported. The company will buy stakes in two terminals from Swire Pacific then sell both holdings, along with a third terminal it already owns, to a new venture. Modern Terminals will then take a stake in the new venture, eventually holding 20% – to China Merchants' 80% – of the Shekou facility, which is set to comprise nine berths by 2009. Shenzhen is the world's fourth busiest container harbor, with throughput rising 13% to 15.2 million 20-foot containers in the first 10 months of the year.