ASSOCIATED British Ports, which owns Teignmouth Docks and Plymouth's Millbay Docks, has accepted a £2.8 billion takeover deal. The firm, which owns a total of 21 UK ports, accepted a revised offer of 910p a share from multinational consortium Admiral, led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs. The price rose from an original 810p per share bid that was first considered 'acceptable' by the ABP board. A rival bid by Britannia Ports, headed by Australian bank Macquarie, pushed it up. It was reported in a recent edition of London's Evening Standard that analysts considered the 910p bid in excess of most valuations in the City. Some have said that the bid is astonishing for a business that has only steady growth prospects. It has been asserted that the hidden asset of ABP is acres of disused dockland property around the country. More than 98 per cent of ABP shareholders voted to approve the cash acquisition by Admiral at a recent extraordinary general meeting. The effective start date is expected to be August 14. ABP share dealings on the London Stock Exchange are due to be suspended on August 7. ABP is the largest port company in the UK and handles about a quarter of the UK's seaborne traffic. It has just invested £5 million in extension plans at Teignmouth. But regardless of the outcome of the bid, port manager Colin Greenwell said it should be 'business as usual'. Works are nearing completion on the quay reconstruction project. The port's number one dock has been infilled and a straight-line quay with new public slipway at Polly Steps has been created. Three new 100 metre-berths have been created to accommodate larger but fewer ships. A new storage shed has also been erected as part of the plans. Teignmouth port handles ball clay exports in shipments of up to 3,500 tonnes to all parts of Europe. It has built up a substantial animal-feed importation business alongside Mole Valley Farmers. Recent cargoes handled at the port include slag cement, grain, salt, timber, stone and fertilisers. The company employs 3,000 staff worldwide, most based in the UK. It employs about 25 people at Teignmouth.