CK Hutchison wants Chinese firm to join bidding for its $22.8 billion ports business
said on Monday it wants a major Chinese strategic investor to join the BlackRock-led consortium bidding for its $22.8 billion
ports business
, after media reported that state-owned
China COSCO Shipping Corp
aims to join the group.
The Hong Kong conglomerate in a statement said changes to the composition of the consortium and structure of the transaction will be necessary to secure
regulatory approval
, and that it will allow as much time as needed to achieve that.
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A 145-day exclusivity period for talks between the parties expired on Sunday.
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CK Hutchison's Hong Kong-listed shares were due to open higher just shy of 1% on Monday.
A deal would cover 43 ports in 23 countries including two ports near the Panama Canal which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
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U.S. President
Donald Trump
initially hailed the sale as "reclaiming" the Panama Canal after his administration called for the removal of what it said was Chinese ownership of some ports.
U.S. investment firm
BlackRock declined to comment. COSCO, Italian consortium member
MSC
and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China views the potential sale as a threat to its interests, seeing the consortium as a proxy for growing American influence in a region it considers economically and geopolitically significant.
State-backed media, in criticism of the sale, said China has significant national interests in the matter and that selling the ports would be a betrayal of the country.
China's top market regulator said it was paying close attention to developments and stressed the deal would be subject to a Chinese antitrust review.
CK Hutchison in its statement said any new investor must be a "significant" member of the consortium.
"This is an interesting development. A PRC (China) investor with majority control of the consortium sounds like a non-starter in my view. An investor with a less than 50% stake you would think should keep everyone happy," said strategist David Blennerhassett of Ballingal Investment Advisors who publishes on SmartKarma.
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