Thursday 24 May 2007 - International Port Holdings invests in Great Yarmouth Port

Great Yarmouth May 24, 2007 International Port Holdings (IPH), a company set up to acquire and invest in smaller port assets, announced today that it has entered into agreements through which it will invest in and operate Great Yarmouth Port.

Through the agreement with the Great Yarmouth Port Authority, the existing port business at Great Yarmouth will transfer to an IPH subsidiary, Great Yarmouth Port Company (GYPC). GYPC will construct a new outer harbour at Great Yarmouth which will provide enhanced port facilities to cater for larger vessels and a wider range of trades.

IPH also announced today that it has entered into a joint venture with PSA International to develop and operate a short sea container terminal in the new harbour at Great Yarmouth.

Great Yarmouth is the principal port servicing the Southern North Sea oil and gas industry. Together with general cargo including forest products, agribulk and aggregates it handles 1.3 million tonnes per annum.

International Port Holdings was formed last year by Alistair Baillie who was previously the Chief Operating Officer of P&O’s international port division and Eliza O’Toole whose city legal career was major infrastructure, strategic project and regeneration focused. IPH’s strategy is to purchase and invest in smaller port operating assets on a global basis with strong growth prospects, and in some cases, potential for development. IPH believes that there exist investment opportunities in this area given that smaller port assets are often neglected or under funded and therefore represent strong growth potential.

Alistair Baillie, Chairman of International Port Holdings, commented, "We are very pleased to have now concluded the transaction with the Great Yarmouth Port Authority. The construction of the outer harbour will now commence and is scheduled to be completed in Autumn 2008. Together with the existing port, we believe that the outer harbour provides good potential to expand existing trades and to expand into short sea, ferry, car, wind farm and oil and gas decommissioning activities."

Stephen Eldred, Chairman of Great Yarmouth Port Authority, added: "This is a very important and exciting deal for us which will bring numerous benefits to the local economy and will put Great Yarmouth on the map as a key UK port for a variety of goods and services. We very much look forward to continuing to work with GYPC, who have already leveraged their considerable experience to successfully get this project to the implementation stage."