Private equity in UK ports: An alternative view

This article provides a commentary on the main article by Alf Baird “Acquisition of UK ports by private equity funds”. It seeks to put it into context by reviewing the recent history of the UK ports' industry, and highlighting the circumstances which have made UK ports attractive to private equity funds. However it challenges the article's central contentions about the consequences of private equity ownership, arguing that profitability is no higher than in other types of private ownership or in some public sector ports; that the low levels of investment have been due to the slowness of the UK Public Inquiry system, and the arrival of the recession as soon as it was reformed; that the increase in debt finance is due in part to unprecedentedly low interest rates, but is difficult to identify precisely because of the complex corporate structures used by private equity funds; and that the case studies produce mixed results in terms of stability of ownership.