(April 27): Ports operator China Merchants Group is in talks to join a consortium seeking to buy dozens of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd’s ports, people familiar with the matter said, giving renewed momentum to a deal that stalled after emerging as a geopolitical flashpoint between China and the US.
China Merchants is joining negotiations as a potential way to help fellow state-owned firm China Cosco Shipping Corp finance the deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Both firms are keen to acquire the assets given the rarity of gaining exposure to more than 40 ports in a single deal, the people said.
Talks may take time to progress given the complexity of the situation and the need for approval from the US and China, the people said. Details including the consortium structure haven’t been finalised and are subject to change, they said. The consortium currently also includes US investment firm BlackRock Inc’s GIP fund and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s Terminal Investment Ltd.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the deal still includes two ports near the Panama Canal after the country’s top court ruled earlier this year that the contract granted to CK Hutchison to run the facilities is unconstitutional.
Representatives for China Merchants, Cosco, CK Hutchison and the Aponte family’s MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, which controls Terminal Investment, didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for BlackRock declined to comment.
The addition of China Merchants, which along with Cosco are two of China’s largest state-owned shipping and port operators, to the buyers’ group would provide much needed impetus for CK Hutchison’s planned ports sale.
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The development comes just ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next month in Beijing. That meeting is fueling hopes that there may be a political breakthrough between the two superpowers that would help get the deal over the line, according to the people.
CK Hutchison’s plan to net more than US$19 billion ($24.2 billion) in cash for a group of 43 ports, including strategically important ones along the Panama Canal, has faced repeated setbacks since it was announced last year and immediately became stuck in the middle of a flare-up in geopolitical tensions.
Beijing has repeatedly objected to the deal, viewing it as bowing to US pressure, while CK Hutchison invited Cosco to join the deal last year as a way to appease Chinese officials’ displeasure over BlackRock’s involvement.
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Meanwhile, seemingly to align itself with Trump, Panama earlier this year invalidated CK Hutchison’s contract to operate the Balboa and Cristobal terminals — a move that’s seen Li Ka-shing’s Hong Kong conglomerate commence arbitration cases and resulted in Beijing instructing state firms to halt talks over new projects in Panama.
Talks had also hit a roadblock over Cosco’s role, including giving the company veto rights, as well as hurdles including how to win approval from various national regulators overseeing the assets.
In a bid to break the deadlock, the parties have been considering putting the assets under different ownership structures, potentially giving Cosco larger stakes in ports in regions more friendly with China, Bloomberg News previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
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