P&O Maritime, a fully owned subsidiary of DP World Group, has started operating in Ukraine. The company will provide towing services in the Yuzhny seaport (Odesa region) via the acquisition of a towing company.

The press service of SD Capital investment company founded by the co-owner of TIS Group Andriy Stavnitser and its manager Filip Hrushko, P&O Maritime acquired a controlling stake in LB Shipping that provides towing services. The co-investor in the deal was SD Capital. The sum of the deal is not disclosed.

Earlier Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has permitted P&O Martitime B.V. (Amstelveen, the Netherlands), a subsidiary of DP World (the United Arab Emirates), to indirectly acquire LBSh LLC (Yuzhny, Odesa region), created in May 2017. The company has started winning the port's tenders to tow ships.

The committee said on Wednesday that P&O Martitime B.V. was permitted to buy over 50% in LBS B.V. (Amstelveen, the Netherlands), which was permitted to acquire over 50% in BPSh (Yuzhny, Odesa region), the holder of 95.95% of LBSh LLC.

The committee also granted permission for concerted actions in the form of implementing the agreement on restrictive conditions stipulated in the draft shareholder agreement to be concluded between P&O Maritime BV, Cornlex Impex Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus, owners -- Stavnitser and Hrebennikov), LBS B.V. (Nicosia) and Calabasa Holding Limited (Amstelveen) for three years.

According to the press service of SD Capital, the agreement to obtain control and management was signed by its partner Stavnitser and DP World Group CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem in November 2017 after the visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to the headquarters of DP World Group in the United Arab Emirates.

"The experience and resources of DP World Group will bring new quality standards to Ukraine's infrastructure, healthy market competition and transparency. I am confident that this deal is the beginning of great cooperation. We will continue to develop the industry and jointly achieve that ship owners in Ukrainian ports will be able to receive world-class services," another partner of the company Hrushko said.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, in turn, believes that Ukraine can become a key trade hub between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

P&O Maritime is a premier maritime solutions provider across all the seven continents of the world, created in Britain in 1834. Over the years its portfolio has expanded to include ownership and management of specialist vessels, offshore renewables, river barging, chartering, port services and world class logistics solutions.

DP World Group acquired P&O Maritime in 2006.