Forth Ports is being linked to a £500m bid for Teesport, the North of England business which is likely to be sold by its Japanese parent. Ports businesses as large as Teesport - which saw profits rise 7% to £42m last year - rarely come on the market, and the sale is likely to attract a number of bidders. The business has been valued between £100m and £500m. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, Britain’s second-biggest ports group and owner of the ports of Liverpool, Dublin, Heysham, Sheerness and Chatham, confirmed last week that it would be interested in Teesport.