COSCO Pacific, a unit of China COSCO Holdings , also its largest customer, will seek external financing once it finds an acquisition target, vice chairman and managing director Wang Xingru said.
"This is a good opportunity for overseas acquisitions. The company is looking at both buying terminals from our (ultimate) parent company and others," Wang told a news conference.
The company is in talks to invest in a container terminal at Taiwan's biggest port of Kaohsiung.
"We hope this could be done by end of the year," Wang said.
But he also said the situation was a bit complicated, meaning that the timing could not be controlled.
Yang Ming Marine said in October that it received offers from COSCO and China Merchants for a 20 percent stake each in Taiwan's largest port.
The container facility is being jointly developed by Yang Ming and the Taiwan government.
COSCO Pacific is the terminal investment flagship of COSCO group with assets mainly in China but also invests in overseas terminals in Singapore, Greece, Belgium and Egypt.
It is also looking at investment opportunities in the container leasing segment, Wang said. "The most important thing is for us to get quality projects," he said.
Earlier in the day, the company reported a first-half net profit of $237.04 million, up 25 percent from a year earlier. (Reuters)
