The Board of Ports and ferries group P&O has announced that it has received a £3.5bn takeover approach from PSA International.
The approach from the Singapore state-owned operator, may lead to an offer to acquire the whole of the P&O deferred stock for a value of 470p, beating the earlier Dubai Ports offer of 443p.
P&O has said that it would give PSA until early February to examine its accounts and decide whether to make a formal bid.
PSA is wholly owned by Temasek, the Singapore government investment agency, which already owns 4.1% of P&O.
As of today (12 January 2006), PSA has started due diligence scrutiny of P&O. Shares have soared well above the initial bid of 470p per share to 498p. This would suggest that the market expects another offer from rival bidder DP World.
