Dubai-based port operator DP World has sold the majority of its business in Australia for $1.5bn as it moves to reduce its debt.

The deal with Citi Infrastructure Investors, a private equity division of New York-based Citibank, is expected to be finalised by the end of the first quarter 2011. Under the terms of the deal, DP World will keep a 25 per cent stake in its Australian port operations and will continue to manage the ports in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle.

Together, the five ports have a capacity to handle more than 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units(TEUs) a year, approximately 50 per cent of the total Australian container market.

All proceeds from the sale will go towards paying off the company’s debt, which currently stands at about $5.9bn. The sale resulted in a 6.3 per cent increase in DP World shares on 22 December on Nasdaq Dubai.

DP World is also planning to list on the London Stock Exchange in 2011 (MEED 28:6:10).