THE owner of PD Teesport is planning to sell the business for £500m.

Japanese bank Nikko is hoping it can offload the operation after turning its fortunes around.

The ports business, which operates ports on the Tees and in Hartlepool, is Britain's second largest by volume, and has gone from strength to strength since a new board was put in place to drive expansion plans.

The company recently opened a second container terminal at Tees Port and more than a hundred extra staff have been employed in the time PD Teesport has been in charge.

It has been working with steelmaker Corus to look at ways of developing its disused wharf for exporting large quantities of steel when the Redcar works becomes a merchant mill in 2006.

Martyn Pellew, PD Teesport group development director, said he was confident the current management would continue to play a major role if Nikko finds a buyer at the right price.

"We are being successful, hence the fact Nikko are taking time looking at what the options are," he said.

"We are very much committed to our current strategy and whoever owns the ports will need the people and the investment to continue to grow the business."

John Irwin, former president of the North East Chamber of Commerce and director of chartered surveyors storeys:ssp, said: "Most people would say the new board has been really good.

"It has engaged with the local community, which its predecessors did not do.

"They are not only talking, but forming partnerships with companies to not only help themselves, but also the surrounding area."

Operations at Hartlepool Port have been scaled back in recent years as more users push for the deep water facility at Tees Port.

Hartlepool used to deal with more than a million tonnes a year, but natural decline saw that fall to 611,000 tonnes last year.

PD Teesport has been working with Tees Valley Regeneration on a planning application to turn two-thirds of the 300-acre site into a mixed-use development.

Neil Etherington, strategic investment and marketing manager, said that the potential sale would not affect the Victoria Harbour project in Hartlepool.

He said: "We have a great relationship with the strong management team at Teesport, which is the UK's second biggest port and an important national asset.

"Our core project (Victoria Harbour) would be a key factor and an attraction to any would-be buyer."

Nikko is being advised by investment bank NM Rothschild on the potential sale.