Several China state-backed firms – including the country’s largest shipping company – are reportedly in talks to join a stalled $19 billion deal for 43 global ports, including two along the Panama Canal.
China’s Cosco Shipping Corp. has held discussions about partnering with a global consortium headed by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s Terminal Investment Ltd., as well as US asset manager BlackRock and its Global Infrastructure Partners unit, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The move comes after Beijing’s fierce opposition has jeopardized a deal that would hand over control of the ports owned by Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-Shing to TiL and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager led by Larry Fink.
President Trump had touted the sale of the ports as a national security win after demanding the US “take back” the Panama Canal and eliminate Chinese influence over the critical shipping lane.
The inclusion of Cosco and other China state-backed companies emerged as a way to nudge the deal forward after intense trade talks between US officials and their Beijing counterparts over tariffs in Switzerland last month, sources told Bloomberg.
The consortium is staring down a deadline in late July after a 145-day period for talks on the ports deal expires, and have already missed an initial goal of signing an agreement by early April.
Aponte’s family-run business – Mediterranean Shipping Company, which owns TiL – has emerged as the lead investor, though BlackRock is notably expected to take over the two Panama ports included in the sale.
The deal is expected to crown Aponte’s MSC as the world’s largest terminal operator after acquiring the ports from Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings.
China has steadfastly opposed the deal over concerns it could hinder its global trade and shipping operations.
Talks are ongoing and terms of the deal have not been finalized, sources told Bloomberg.
BlackRock declined to comment. Cosco Shipping and TiL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The White House and CK Hutchinson did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The canal, which was finished by US engineers, was handed back to Panama between 1977 and 1999 under a Jimmy Carter-era treaty establishing permanent neutrality.
The head of the operator of the Panama Canal has warned that the deal could threaten its commitment to neutrality.
“There is a potential risk of capacity concentration if the deal comes the way it is structured as we understand right now,” Ricaurte Vasquez Morales, administrator of the Panama Canal, told the Financial Times in an interview published this week.
“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.”
