On August 29, 2011, at the headquarters of the Gdynia Maritime Port Authority S.A. at 9 Rotterdamska Street in Gdynia, the ceremonial signing of the Share Sale Agreement for the company MTMG – Morski Terminal Masowy Gdynia Sp. z o.o. took place. The sale price for 100% of the shares of the aforementioned company to the company ATIC Services, based in Paris, amounts to 60,303,760 PLN.
MTMG provides handling services, storage, as well as big-bagging and sorting of all bulk cargoes occurring in port and maritime trade. The terminal offers handling for: coal and coke, grain and feed, ores, other dry and liquid bulk cargoes, oil and petroleum products, as well as general cargo. MTMG – Morski Terminal Masowy Gdynia Sp. z o.o. has been achieving positive operational and financial results for years.
The privatization processes conducted by the Gdynia Maritime Port Authority S.A. fulfill a statutory task and one of the priorities defined in the Gdynia Port Development Strategy. The port management model adopted in Poland assumes the separation of management and operational spheres, which in practice means excluding public entities managing ports from the operator services market. The task of port authorities is to ensure free access to services provided on competitive terms by operator entities belonging to the private sector. The beginning of privatization processes at the Gdynia port was marked by the document “Strategy for the privatization of companies and auxiliary services of ZMP Gdynia S.A. against the background of the assumptions of the Gdynia port development strategy” from 2001. The strategy, updated several times, defined the mode of privatization for each of the associated companies and set the main goals of privatization. The privatization proceedings for MTMG Sp. z o.o. were initiated based on a Resolution of the Supervisory Board of the Gdynia Maritime Port Authority S.A. from November 2009, expressing consent to start the privatization process leading to the sale by ZMPG-a S.A. of 100% of the shares held in the company through negotiations undertaken on the basis of a public invitation. Privatization activities began in January 2010. Nine entities responded to the press announcement inviting all those interested in acquiring the company’s shares to negotiations, submitting a declaration of participation in the privatization.
In the course of the process, in July 2010, 4 binding offers were received, two of which met all formal requirements. As a result of the substantive evaluation of both offers, the privatization committee submitted a request to the Management Board of ZMPG-a S.A. to grant exclusivity for conducting full-scope due diligence, and thus starting the 3rd stage of privatization, to the company Atic Services based in Paris. The examination was conducted in September and October 2010.
In the opinion of the Management Board of ZMPG S.A., the acquisition of 100% of the shares of the bulk terminal by an industry investor, which Atic Services undoubtedly is, will increase the economic, technological, and organizational efficiency of the company, and thus increase its competitiveness. In turn, the Port Authority, as a result of finalizing the entire process, will obtain stable revenues from the lease agreement concluded for a period of 30 years, and the financial resources obtained from the sale of shares will be allocated to the expansion and modernization of port infrastructure.