Dubai-based port operator DP World has acquired an additional 23.94 per cent stake in Pusan Newport Company (PNC) in South Korea from Samsung Corporation & Subsidiaries.

The deal increases DP World’s holding in PNC to 66.03 per cent.

PNC is the largest terminal in the port of Pusan with 5.25 million  twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) capacity, handling 34 per cent of the new port volumes. The New Port of Pusan began operations in 2006, and operates 23 container berths connecting to 500 ports in 100 countries.

The Port of Pusan is the sixth largest port worldwide with volumes of 19.5 million TEU in 2015 and accounts for approximately 75 per cent of total container volumes in South Korea.

In early December, DP World created a $3.7bn investment vehicle in joint venture with Canada’s Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ).

DP World owns a 55 per cent stake while DDPQ, a major pension fund, owns the remainder.

DP World’s two Canadian assets will form the basis of the new investment vehicle. CDPQ will take a 45 per cent stake in the container terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert for $640m, subject to regulatory approvals.