Australian investment outfit Macquarie is studying a possible £1bn bid for PD Ports, the logistics empire that includes the strike-plagued Felixstowe port in the south or Teesport in the northeast. An auction by PD ‘s owner, Canadian private equity firm Brookfield, was cancelled in November following a legal spat with the South Tees Development Corporation, which owns the land around Teesport. Bids at the auction had reached around £1.3bn but the economic backdrop and performance of PD Ports had worsened since then. Originally, PD Ports had sought a sale price of £2.0bn. – The Sunday Times
OneWeb is looking to raise billions of pounds to finance a huge low-orbit communications network. The company is immersed in talks with a consortium of lenders to help finance its ambitious plans, including a new generation of launches, to the tune of around £3bn of debt. French state-backed lender BPI and America’s credit export agency may also be involved. Nonetheless, the plans may take nine months or more to finalise. – Financial Mail on Sunday
The Chancellor is preparing to delay his first full budget until the following year, amid increasing concern that he wants to avoid his tax cuts from coming under scrutiny because they will likely breach the government’s existing fiscal rules. Details of his plans for £30bn of tax cuts and for an energy price cap are expected on Friday. However, over the coming months he is expected to overhaul the fiscal rules in order to ensure compliance. At present, the tax cuts look set to break the rule mandating that debt, as a proportion of gross domestic product, should decline by 2024/25. – Guardian
Baby goods retailer Mothercare has warned that it may run out of cash should customers tighten their purse strings excessively during the cost of living crisis. The company warned that should “trading conditions were to deteriorate” past its most pessimistic forecasts and were it not able to reduce costs then it might run into liquidity problems. That could require new financing or debt waivers. Mothercare’s sales were also hit by its exit from Russia. – The Financial Mail on Sunday
