ABP Shares Surge After Buyout Approach

Shares in Britain's biggest port operator, Associated British Ports Holdings Plc, were nearly 20 percent higher Tuesday after officials reported the company had received a buyout approach that significantly undervalued the company.

ABP did not say who made the informal offer, but advised shareholders to take no action. Industry sources said the approach, worth about $1.6 billion, had been made by Nomura International, the London-based investment bank arm of Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Japan's biggest securities house.

Nomura has a reputation for acquiring underperforming businesses, restructuring them and then selling them.