Three groups bidding for port operator, SSA Marine

Three investment groups plan to make separate bids of at least $2 billion for Seattle-based SSA Marine, the largest U.S.-owned port terminal operator, said four people familiar with the matter.

SSA Marine, which owns port operations in Washington, California, South Carolina and Mexico and runs terminals in 120 locations worldwide, said March 20 that it would consider a possible sale or acquisitions. The company is the largest privately held container terminal operator and cargo-handling company in the world.

U.S. buyout firm Carlyle Group and investment banks Macquarie and Babcock & Brown, based in Sydney, Australia, are due to make final bids by late next month, said the people, who declined to be identified as the information is confidential.

SSA, a unit of closely-held Carrix, has been seen as a prime candidate to do some acquiring itself, potentially including the U.S. port operations owned by Dubai Ports World.

DP World bought them from Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., but agreed in March to sell them to a U.S. entity after the purchase sparked a political uproar. DP World is controlled by the Dubai government.

Asked Friday about the reported acquisition offers, SSA Chief Executive Officer Jon Hemingway said, "People have no idea what we're really up to."

As to whether a transaction with such an investment group would position SSA to buy the DP World assets, he said, "Anything is possible."

In March, SSA said that "recent inquiries from many companies looking to partner with, or invest in SSA Marine, as well as the opportunities to acquire additional operations" prompted it to hire Citigroup as its financial adviser.

"None of the alternatives we are exploring would involve selling control of our U.S. operations to a company owned by a foreign government," that statement noted.

Spokespeople for Citigroup, Carlyle, Babcock & Brown and Macquarie Bank all declined to comment.

If a bid is made, it would come amid $20 billion in port-takeover offers this year.

SSA Marine processes about 22 million standard containers worldwide each year, according to its Web site. Its operations extend to Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, South Africa and New Zealand. After the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, the company was among the first U.S. contractors there, charged with getting the port in Umm Qasr up and running.

"U.S. is an important market for shipping lines and port operators," said Glenford Tan, a shipping analyst at CIMB-GK Research Pte in Singapore. "It's where all the goods are going," which helps make SSA Marine attractive, he said.

Global trade, forecast by the International Monetary Fund to grow 7.6 percent by volume this year, is spurring demand for assets in the shipping industry, which accounts for 80 percent of cargo worldwide.

"If you want to be exposed to the demand in trade, then it's ports you want to be in," Tan said.

SSA Marine, formed in 1949 by Fred Smith as the Bellingham Stevedoring Co., handled more than 4 million standard containers in the U.S. last year, 15 percent of the total in the country.

Comment from SSA Marine CEO Jon Hemingway provided by Seattle Times business reporter Alwyn Scott.