[JURIST] A last-minute effort [JURIST report] by Miami-based Eller & Co. [corporate website] to block expected UK High Court approval of the $6.8 billion sale of US port operating rights by British company P&O [corporate website] to United Arab Emirates firm DP World [corporate website] was met with derision Monday when P&O lawyers dismissed their legal arguments against the deal as "woefully thin". The proposed transaction has been severely criticized by US politicians animated by security concerns and several lawsuits [JURIST report] have already been brought in the US seeking to block the takeover.

Eller & Co. lawyers told the British court that the sale should not be approved because there was a "real prospect" that the US government would reverse its promise to approve the deal, which is now under a second review [AP report]. AP has more.