The protracted biggest ports sale in history made multiple headlines this week.
CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate, confirmed on Monday that it is in discussions to bring a “major strategic investor” from China into the bidding consortium for its $22.8bn global ports business. The move follows the expiration of a 145-day exclusivity agreement with the original buyers’ group and comes amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.
The original consortium—led by US investment firm BlackRock and the Aponte family’s Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC)—had been in exclusive talks with CK Hutchison to acquire its international port holdings. However, as those talks lapsed last weekend, state-owned COSCO has emerged as a potential new entrant to the buyer group.
Other companies are keen to get a slice of Hutchison’s global ports empire.
“It’s very important for the industry, and it’s important for us as a major player in this sector,” CMA CGM chief financial officer Ramon Fernandez told reporters during the presentation of the company’s second quarter results on Tuesday. “We are present in 65 terminals around the world so we are following this operation very closely and are naturally interested in participating,” he added.
If CMA CGM succeeds in acquiring part of the Hutchison portfolio, it would underscore the growing rivalry among the world’s top containerlines—MSC, Maersk, COSCO, and CMA CGM—to secure vertical control across the logistics value chain, from ships and containers to terminals, warehouses, and air cargo.
If CMA CGM succeeds in acquiring part of the Hutchison portfolio, it would underscore the growing rivalry among the world’s top containerlines—MSC, Maersk, COSCO, and CMA CGM—to secure vertical control across the logistics value chain, from ships and containers to terminals, warehouses, and air cargo.
Among the most contentious parts of the Hutchison ports sale is in Central America.
The future of Hutchison’s two Panamanian ports is hanging in the balance after president José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday that public-private partnerships could assume control of the Balboa and Cristobal terminals if the courts strike down Hutchison’s operating contract.
The announcement follows legal challenges filed by Panama’s comptroller general Anel Flores, who has lodged two cases with Panama’s Supreme Court seeking to invalidate Panama Ports Company’s (PPC) concession. PPC, 90% owned by CK Hutchison, has operated the Balboa and Cristobal ports since 1997 under a 25-year concession renewed in 2021.
The two ports, positioned at either end of the Panama Canal, have become a flashpoint in the geopolitical struggle between Washington and Beijing. US president Donald Trump placed the facilities at the centre of his inauguration speech in January, vowing to “take back” the canal from Chinese influence.
