As reported by the Financial Times, a London-based arbitration panel has found in favor of DP World in a long-running dispute with the government of Djibouti over a port concession awarded to the company in 2006. The arbitration claim was initiated by the government of Djibouti in 2014, when it rescinded the concession agreement and accused DP World of bribing the head of Djibouti’s port authority, Abdourahman Boreh, in order to achieve unfair non-market terms. At the time, DP World rejected the allegations and said it would “vigorously defend” its position during the arbitration procedure.
The arbitration was conducted at the London Center for International Arbitration (LCIA). The 3-member panel ruled strongly in favor of DPW and called for the Government of Djibouti to pay the costs of the arbitration.
Mercator International was called upon by DP World to provide expert testimony to the Tribunal. Mercator analyzed the terms of a broad set of port concessions and compared them with the Djibouti concession, concluding that the Djibouti agreement was reasonable and consistent with market terms.
For more information, read this article from the Financial Times or this article from 4-Traders.com.
