Personally, I lean toward closing the deal and not because I think President Bush has a lot of credibility on domestic policy issues. The chief argument against so far has been Islam which, while a cogent and defensible position, isn't one that I can get onboard with.
"Why pay top dollar when your only two competitors are persona non grata?"
That is a question better directed at the board of P & O. We'll soon be finding out just how important their port contracts in the US actually are, if the DPWorld acquisition goes through, because it has been made quite plain that several states plan to void their contracts.
It's no different than owning a popular night club and not being able to get top dollar for it since many of the potential buyers aren't able to secure liquor licenses. That is just the way the business world works.