CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong-based logistics giant, announced plans for investors including BlackRock Inc to buy an 80% stake in a business that controls ports in Panama for an equity value of $14.21bn.
The sale of 90% interest in Panama Ports Company, which owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal, comes as the US president, Donald Trump, piles on pressure to end what he sees as China’s influence and control over the Panama canal.
CK Hutchison insisted the deal was unrelated to Trump’s vow to “take back” the canal. “I would like to stress that the Transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports,” said co-managing director Frank Sixt.
The company has been operating the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal at the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic entrances for more than two decades. Other ports in the canal are operated by firms from the US, Taiwan and Singapore.
The sale does not involve any interest in Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, which operates ports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as South China, or any other ports in mainland China, the company said.
The consortium, which includes BlackRock Inc, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Terminal Investment and CK Hutchison has agreed negotiations will be on an exclusive basis for a period of 145 days, the company said.
Reuters contributed reporting
Source: theguardian.com
