Britain's High Court has approved the $6.8 billion takeover of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. by state-owned Dubai Ports World, despite an objection by Miami-based Eller & Co. The judge said Eller's objections that its business would be harmed if a United Arab Emirates company owned significant operations at six major U.S. seaports simply didn't hold water. Dubai Ports already has already received approval from the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, and the firm has tried to quelch political outcrys in the U.S. against the deal by voluntarily submitting to a second 45-day investigation of the deal's potential security risks.
