Report: Hutchison Explores New Structure to Sell Port Terminals
CK Hutchison is reported to be exploring a new path to structure the deal for the company to sell its interest in terminal operations at 43 ports in 23 countries, including the controversial terminals at each terminus of the Panama Canal. The company announced in March 2025 that it had reached terms to sell the terminal portfolio in a deal valued at $22.8 billion, but it slowly unraveled as China said the company owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing was betraying national interests.
The latest structure, according to a report from Bloomberg, would break the sale of the portfolio into smaller parcels. Previously, Hutchison had agreed to a two-part deal where U.S. investment group, BlackRock, would have had the largest share of the two Panama terminal operations, with MSC’s Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) as a minority investor. TiL was to be the lead investor in the terminals beyond Panama, while Hutchison would have retained the operations in China. The deal was built on BlackRock’s long-term investment in TiL and the two companies' joint efforts at other ports.
China immediately objected to the proposed sale, linking it to political pressure from the Trump administration. Initial reports said China was demanding participation in the deal, and later Bloomberg reported China insisted that the state-owned COSCO have a majority position and veto rights. Hutchison had initially said it expected to complete terms for the two Panama terminals by April 2025. As the negotiations dragged on, the lock-up granted to the BlackRock-TiL consortium expired in July, and by December, Bloomberg was reporting the negotiations were at an impasse.
It says discussions on the new structure are preliminary, and details are yet to be finalized. Bloomberg, however, quotes sources saying China has signalled that the Chinese government “would find such a structure acceptable.” Bloomberg writes that China, through COSCO, would take control of the terminals in ports and regions both more friendly to China and critical to the country’s trade strategy.
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COSCO is a logical company to lead the Chinese portion, as its COSCO Shipping Ports, as of December 31, 2024, reported that it operated and managed 375 berths at 39 ports globally. It said 226 were for containers, with an annual handling capacity of approximately 124 million TEU.
Bloomberg reports that China and the other companies have noted the “mounting geopolitical headwinds” facing the deal as Donald Trump presses U.S. interests in Latin America and continues to seek to challenge China. The Panama Canal was the original sticking point, with BlackRock positioned as the lead to satisfy the White House and Trump’s assertion that China was running the Panama Canal.