New World Asks Banks to Refinance $11 Billion Loans by June
New World Development Co. has asked banks to refinance HK$87.5 billion ($11.2 billion) of its loans by the end of June, according to people familiar with the matter, as the cash-strapped builder seeks to quickly shore up its liquidity.
The urgency stems in part from the expiration next month of a covenant waiver on New World's existing loans, two of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. If the waiver expires before a refinancing deal, some banks could demand immediate repayment, though that scenario is unlikely, the people added.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Panama Ports Buyers Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The consortium seeking to finalize a $23 billion deal to acquire dozens of ports from Hong Kong-based port operator CK Hutchison has reportedly held in-person discussions with China's antitrust regulator in recent weeks as the transaction remains in limbo. According to a report from the Financial Times, the talks came as Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and BlackRock are exploring options to ensure China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) approves the acquisition in some form. More from Sourcing Journal US Pushes Global Partners for Trade Deals by Wednesday Trade Truce Crumbles as China Says US Violated Terms TuSimple Reportedly Shared Self-Driving Data With China The report indicates that the parties are discussing amendments that they hoped would satisfy the respective presidents of the U.S. and China—Donald Trump and Xi Jinping—amid their ongoing trade war. CK Hutchison supposedly has mulled a sale of some or all of its remaining 10 ports in China, separate from the existing deal. The report said that transaction was unlikely to occur until the MSC-BlackRock deal was complete. When the initial deal was first announced, all eyes were on the transfer of two ports on opposite sides of the Panama Canal from CK Hutchison to the BlackRock-MSC consortium. Hutchison can still opt to delay the Panama port sale. That part of the transaction came after weeks of rhetoric from Trump, who had repeatedly cited he wanted to 'take back' the Panama Canal. Concerns over Chinese influence over the waterway were a central sticking point in Trump's threats, with Washington considering Hutchison's ownership of the canal-adjacent Balboa and Cristobal ports a threat to U.S. national security. In the March announcement, CK Hutchison co-managing director Frank Sixt insisted that the acquisition of subsidiary Panama Ports Company, which operates the Balboa and Cristobal ports, was 'purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports.' But China's reaction to Hutchison's sale to a U.S.-headquartered asset management giant and the world's largest container shipping company suggested otherwise. National state media had gone on record to post their gripes with the deal, calling it 'spineless kneeling' and 'profit-seeking.' Additionally, reports had indicated that President Xi was angered over the transaction since Hutchison did not ask for approval of the deal in advance. Although the transaction was initially expected to be signed on April 2, the date went by without the ports changing hands. That portion of the deal would have shifted control of 43 global ports over to the consortium, with the two Panama ports handed over on a separate deadline. The Panamanian government also needs to approve the second part of the agreement. SAMR said after the sale's reported postponement that it would vet the deal. After an April report indicated that MSC's founding Aponte family had considered separating the Panama ports from the deal altogether, the regulator publicly warned CK Hutchison against a split as a means to circumvent antitrust review. Separating the Panama ports would ultimately require the parties to reach a new agreement. The BlackRock-MSC consortium and Hutchison are still under a 145-day exclusive negotiating window that lasts until late July. During CK Hutchison's annual meeting on May 22, the company put out a statement in rebuttal to SAMR, saying 'it is absolutely impossible for this transaction to take place in any unlawful or non-compliant circumstances.' At the meeting, Hutchison co-managing director Dominic Lai confirmed that MSC would be the main investor in the ports acquisition, and that his own firm would cooperate with Chinese authorities. Lai said during the meeting that the deal is subject to multiple reviews by different authorities, and reiterated the company's position that the group won't proceed with the sale until it obtains all necessary approvals. The Financial Times report said Hutchison could potentially bring in other investors or participants to amend the deal, including terminal operator DP World and Chinese ocean carrier Cosco Shipping. It remains unclear what roles either would have in a potential deal or possible agreement. While so much focus of the deal has been widened based on interests of the U.S. and China, Panama has had its own scrutiny of CK Hutchison and its prior agreement to run the canal-adjacent ports. Following the conclusion of a three-month audit, Panama's comptroller general said the Hong Kong conglomerate owed the country's government $300 million based on a contract breach. Hutchison subsidiary Panama Ports Company has denied the allegations. Others in Panama's government have been critical of Hutchison's operation of the two ports, with attorney general Luis Carlos Gómez finding in March that the 25-year contract extension signed in 2021 was unconstitutional. Panama's Supreme Court has yet to rule on the finding. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
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Panama Canal Chief Warns $23B Port Deal Poses Risks to its Neutrality
The Panama Canal Authority's lead official is the latest stakeholder to express his doubts about the sale of two ports on both sides of the waterway. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, administrator at the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), told the Financial Times the $23 billion deal that would shift the ports into the hands of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and BlackRock could potentially put the canal's own neutrality at risk. More from Sourcing Journal Panama Canal Sees Post-Drought Spike in Container Shipping Transits Staud Said to Bring On a New Investor Panama Ports Buyers Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place 'There is a potential risk of capacity concentration if the deal comes the way it is structured as we understand right now,' Vásquez said. 'If there is a significant level of concentration on terminal operators belonging to an integrated or one single shipping company, it will be at the expense of Panama's competitiveness in the market and inconsistent with neutrality.' The Panama Canal operates as a neutral passage for ships representing all countries. Treaties signed during the Carter administration in 1977 established its neutrality, and ensured that the then-U.S.-controlled waterway would gradually be returned to Panama by Dec. 31, 1999. President Donald Trump has made overtures challenging the canal's neutrality, with claims that he wants the U.S. to 'take back' the trade artery on the grounds that it is allegedly under Chinese control. While China does not control the canal, Washington had wider concerns about the country's influence on the waterway. The sale of the Balboa and Cristobal ports by owner Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings was considered a win for the Trump administration, since the port operator's ownership of the ports was classified as a national security risk. But that deal has been scrutinized left and right, and has yet to get approval from the Panamanian government. The Chinese government, as well as state-owned media in the country, had spoken out against the deal, with reports saying President Xi Jinping was furious that CK Hutchison went forward with the sale. Following those reports, China's antitrust regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), opened a probe into the deal. That investigation has resulted in the parties deciding to amend several parts of the initial deal to try and appease both Trump and Xi, an FT report said. Hutchison, which would be selling off more than 40 non-Panama ports to MSC and BlackRock in the deal, floated the idea of potentially selling off some or all of its 10 remaining ports in China in a separate sale. The regulator had already warned Hutchison against splitting the Panama ports from the original deal altogether as a means to circumvent antitrust review. Along with government regulators, supply chain stakeholders have shown their displeasure with the potential acquisition in that it would give MSC, already the world's largest ocean carrier, a leading market share in port terminal operations. Vásquez noted that the deal has essentially pitted container shipping operators further against each other for space. 'This has become a significant battleground on transshipment capacity,' Vásquez said, noting that some at the ACP were worried the $23 billion transaction would cost it some container traffic if Hutchison's customers moved elsewhere. Vásquez added that the canal should use the ports deal as an opportunity to become a terminal operator itself by reactivating a project to build a terminal in the Port of Corozal at the Pacific end of the canal, according to FT. As Vásquez and the ACP keep an eye on the situation, the authority will itself be on the radar of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in the U.S. as it plans its infrastructure projects. 'They're doing a very efficient job. What we're watching there is what's going to happen when they have a drought and they have reduced slots to go through there and then how those slots are allocated,' said FMC chairman Louis Sola, in a Monday briefing with the Port of Long Beach, calling it the agency's 'number one priority' at the canal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which helped build and maintain the canal, is currently assisting the ACP on water management practices, according to Sola. The record drought throughout the second half of 2023 prompted the ACP's decision to build a new reservoir in the Indio River watershed to mitigate impacts from future climate conditions. To diversify its business lines, Vásquez also said the authority was considering building a pipeline along the length of the canal to carry up to 1 million barrels per day of liquefied petroleum gas.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Nomura Shuffles FX, EM Trading Bosses After Latest Co-Head Exit
Nomura Holdings Inc. is shuffling the top leaders within its currencies and emerging markets trading business following the departure of the unit's co-head Nagaraj Pangal, the second boss to exit the division in just nine months. Pangal had been helping lead the business since 2023 alongside Kevin Connors, who left in September. David Leigh, who recently joined the Japanese bank from Deutsche Bank AG to replace Connors, will continue to head the business, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News.
