About three years after acquiring the famous the London Gatwick Airport, a Nigerian; Adebayo Ogunlesi, has led a consortium of global investor s to also acquire 35 per cent stake in leading global shipping company; Mediterranean Shipping Company.
While the Gatwick airport deal is £1.455 billion, the MSC stake is priced at US$1.929 billion.
Ogunlesi, 56, is the chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP); an independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in infrastructure assets.
About three years after acquiring the famous the London Gatwick Airport, a Nigerian; Adebayo Ogunlesi, has led a consortium of global investor s to also acquire 35 per cent stake in leading global shipping company; Mediterranean Shipping Company.
While the Gatwick airport deal is £1.455 billion, the MSC stake is priced at US$1.929 billion.
Ogunlesi, 56, is the chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP); an independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in infrastructure assets.
Shipping Position Daily confirmed last week that Mediterranean Shipping Company has already reached an agreement with Ogunlesi’s Global Infrastructure Partners and a group of its LP Co-Investors to sell 35% of Terminal Investment Limited for US$1.929 billion, including certain payments contingent on TIL’s future performance. Closing is expected to take place in the middle of the year and is subject to obtaining the relevant approvals.
It was also learnt that TIL has, or is in the process of acquiring, controlling or joint-controlling interests in 30 container terminals globally serving most of the world’s major trade routes and located in North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. TIL has grown rapidly over the last decade and is now the world’s sixth largest container terminal operator. TIL’s growth will continue to benefit from its relationship with MSC which is the world’s second largest container shipping company.
The new strategic partnership between MSC and GIP will provide a strong foundation to support the next phase of TIL’s growth, including further acquisitions and investments. GIP will play an active role with Alistair Baillie joining TIL as President.
Commenting on the Ogunlesi deal, Vice President of MSC; Diego Aponte said: “We’re extremely pleased to have joined forces with GIP, one of the largest and most experienced infrastructure funds. Through this partnership we are reinforcing our terminal division, which will enable us to capitalize on future opportunities and growth. This will complement MSC’s strategy to maintain a leading position in the industry.”
Also speaking at the unveiling of the deal, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman of GIP reechoed the MSC boss confidence, saying: “We are delighted to enter into this exciting new partnership with MSC. This is in line with our strategy of developing best-in-class joint ventures with industry leaders. We expect to work closely with MSC in growing and improving this high quality portfolio of container terminal assets.”
According to reports, Ogunlesi, the son of an 86-year old professor of medicine has presided over a great number of sweet deals that made him the envy of his peers abroad even if his forays into the brisk world multi-billion dollars deals are barely talked about in his home country.
Ogunlesi attended the prestigious King's College, Lagos. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. He was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale School.
His teacher while at King's College, Lagos, J. Namme, said that Bayo, as he is fondly called, loves getting things done.
Ogunlesi, whose father was the first Nigerian-born medical professor, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford and then earned law and business degrees from Harvard. In the US, he is known as the Nigerian who clerked for late Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, who they say was unable to pronounce his name and quickly dubbed him Obeedoogee. Colleagues and friends call him Bayo.
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