Group May Pull Out of N.Y. Port Deal

The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan may abandon a proposed takeover of a big New York port terminal because of a fee dispute with the port authority, the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper reported Monday.
 
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey wants a $45.7 million payment from Orient Overseas Ltd. before it transfers the lease on a Staten Island container terminal to the Toronto-based pension fund, the paper reported.

The pension fund agreed last year to pay $2.4 billion to acquire four terminals from Orient Overseas, including two in Vancouver, British Columbia, and one in New Jersey.
 
The group has received approval for three of the properties, but the New York component of the deal, valued at $470 million, appears in jeopardy, the newspaper reported.
 
On Friday, Orient Overseas attempted to salvage the transaction by promising to pay a $5 million fee and as much as $17 million for future improvements, but that offer that was rejected by the port officials, the paper said.
 
Teachers and Orient Overseas plan to send a letter to the Port Authority today offering further improvements to try to complete the deal, the Globe and Mail reported.