Latest news with #portSale
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CK Hutchison confirms Aponte's MSC is main investor in ports deal
HONG KONG (Reuters) -CK Hutchison confirmed on Thursday that Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family-run MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is the main investor in a group seeking to buy 43 ports from the Hong Kong conglomerate. Hutchison co-managing director Dominic Lai was speaking at the company's annual general meeting following weeks of scrutiny and criticism in China of its proposal to sell most of its $22.8 billion global ports business to a consortium led by U.S. investment firm BlackRock. When asked if the Swiss-headquartered MSC shipping empire, which is controlled by the Aponte family, was the major investor, Lai said: "Yes, it has been from the beginning." CK Hutchison has not previously disclosed the exact ownership of each investor in the consortium. MSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lai's remarks. The sale of assets, which would include two ports along the strategically important Panama Canal, has become highly politicised at a time of intensifying U.S.-China trade tensions. In April, China's top market regulator said it was paying close attention to CK Hutchison's planned sale and that parties to the deal should not try to avoid an antitrust review. CK Hutchison, controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, said this month that the deal would strictly adhere to all required compliance standards. The proposed sale has also drawn the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to reduce Chinese influence around the Panama Canal and termed the deal a "reclaiming" of the waterway. (Reporting By Jessie Pang and Donny Kwok; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Joe Bavier) Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Beijing cautions Hong Kong's CK Hutchison to ‘act with prudence' over port deal
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has cautioned Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings to maintain 'a clear understanding' of the situation and 'act with prudence' after Li Ka-shing's conglomerate pledged earlier this week that its Panama port sale would not violate any laws. A ministry spokeswoman made the remarks on Thursday after the conglomerate issued a statement on Monday in response to mounting concerns over the sale of its 43 overseas ports to a BlackRock-led consortium in a deal valued at US$23 billion. 'Since March, relevant departments have issued multiple statements stressing that the [company's] port sale will be reviewed according to the law to protect fair market competition in the market and safeguard public interests,' ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian said. 'Parties involved in the transaction should not take any actions evading the reviews. No concentration of undertakings can be implemented without approval; otherwise legal liability will be incurred. 'It is hoped that the relevant enterprise will maintain a clear understanding of the situation and act with prudence.' Under Article 20 of mainland China's Anti-Monopoly Law, 'concentration' refers to the merger of business operators, securing control over another by acquiring its equity or assets or an operator acquiring control or influence over others with a contract or through other means. Beijing has signalled its anger over the proposed sale of the ports, especially the two that CK Hutchison operates at either end of the Panama Canal. Its offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs have reposted scathing newspaper commentaries urging the company to think twice about which side it wanted to stand with amid Sino-US tensions. One op-ed piece called the deal a 'betrayal of all Chinese people'.
