OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced that the company and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. have agreed to form a strategic alliance aimed at enhancing and expanding MOL's container terminal business.

As the first step of the alliance with Brookfield, MOL will transfer a partial stake in MOL subsidiary International Transportation Inc. (ITI) to a Brookfield-operated fund. ITI is a holding company of TraPac L.L.C (TraPac), which operates container terminals in the U.S. ports of Los Angeles and Oakland. With this step, ITI and TraPac will be positioned as core companies of the MOL-Brookfield strategic alliance.

The alliance with Brookfield will consolidate the foundation for the future growth of MOL's container terminal business. It will organically connect TraPac's expertise in top-level terminal operation with Brookfield's knowledge of the infrastructure business in North/South America, Australia, and Europe. MOL will take full advantage of this strategic alliance to expand its terminal operation business at key ports worldwide, which will in turn ensure higher quality, more reliable containership service.

MOL projects gains on sales of JPN 21 billion through the transfer of the ITI shares as extraordinary profits in the financial results of fiscal year 2013 ending March 31, 2014. Meanwhile, it is conducting a detailed study for the FY2013 full-year outlook, and will announce it along with the announcement of financial results for the third quarter, which is slated for January 31.