CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong-based logistics group, has announced plans to sell majority stake in the business that controls ports in Panama to a consortium headed by U.S.-based BlackRock Inc., for an equity value of $14.21 billion, reports The Guardian.
CK Hutchison said it would sell all shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and all shares in Hutchison Port Group Holdings, according to Barron’s. The subsidiaries hold 80% of the Hutchison Ports group, which oversees 43 ports in 23 countries.
BlackRock agreed to acquire a 90% interest in Panama Ports Company alongside Global Infrastructure Partners, the infrastructure investment firm it acquired in 2024, and container terminal group Terminal Investment. Panama Ports owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama, at either end of the Panama Canal.
U.S. president, Donald Trump recently accused the Panamanian administration of allowing China to control the Panama canal.
Read More: The Fight for Control of the Panama Canal
However, 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, in a statement March 4.
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.
