Jan 23 (Reuters) – CK Hutchison is exploring a restructured sale of dozens of ports to a global consortium by breaking the transaction into smaller parcels with differing ownership structures, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
CK Hutchison, which is based in the Chinese-controlled territory of Hong Kong, has come under heavy criticism from Beijing since it announced last year plans to sell 43 ports across 23 countries, including two near the Panama Canal, to a consortium led by BlackRock and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s family-controlled shipping group MSC.
Under the proposed arrangement China’s state-owned COSCO Shipping Corp could take larger stakes in ports located in regions seen as more aligned with Beijing, such as Africa, the report said.
Other members of the consortium, including Aponte’s Terminal Investment and BlackRock, would have greater control over assets elsewhere, Bloomberg said.
China has indicated to COSCO that such a structure would be acceptable, though talks remain at an early stage and key details have yet to be finalised, according to the report.
CK Hutchison did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
