What are the variables in the Changhe port transaction case? It is rumored that the Italian shipping giant will co-hold the Panama port with BlackRock!

According to comprehensive foreign news reports, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), owned by Italian shipping giant Aponte family, is considering separating two Panamanian ports from the Hutchison port sale deal on the Yangtze River. Previously, China repeatedly pressured Li Ka-shing's Yangtze River Hutchison Group (CK Hutchison) to sell the Panamanian port to a consortium brokered by BlackRock, and the report quoted sources familiar with the matter as revealing that Italian magnate Gianluigi Aponte and his son Diego Aponte, who control Mediterranean shipping, have held discussions. Consider moving forward with port deals that mostly involve terminals in 41 ports across five continents, but separate the most controversial Panama port deal from the overall deal for new separate negotiations that, if established, would allow BlackRock to remain a joint stake in the Panama Canal port and the Aponte family.

The new agreement for the exclusive Port of Panama will give BlackRock a 51 % stake

TiL (Terminal Investment Ltd) of Italy's Aponte family is the main buyer of the transaction, which will wholly own all ports except Panama upon completion of the transaction. The two Panama Canal port deals reported to be suppressed by China are in exclusive negotiations, and the Yangtze River Hutchison Group is in the process of selling the ports, and a new exclusive agreement is being drawn up to sell separately, which may reportedly drag on for up to a year.

If the Panama port deal closes, the Aponte family's existing port operator, TiL, will receive a 49 percent stake in two Panamanian ports of the Yangtze Hutchison Group, while BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, BlackRock's infrastructure investment arm, will receive a 51 percent stake.

The Panamanian port transaction case that dragged on again and again

President Trump said when he took office at the beginning of the year that he would take back the Panama Canal, and then the Yangtze River Hutchison announced that it would sell the port, and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office successively reprinted the criticism of Li Ka-shing by major media, causing speculation about whether China was extremely dissatisfied with the deal. A spokesperson for Hong Kong's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly stressed that the deal will be handled in accordance with the law, after which the State Administration for Market Regulation confirmed that it was reviewing the Changjiang Hutchison transaction in accordance with the law, and Changjiang Hutchison Group had planned to sign the final agreement document on April 2, but it has not yet been completed.

The Panama port transaction has become a battleground for US-China trade wrestling

In fact, Panamanian ports accounted for only 4% of the overall transaction, suggesting that the acquisition has more political significance than commercial interests. CK Hutchison's founder, Li Ka-shing, is expected to receive at least US$19 billion in cash upon completion of the transaction. Changjiang Hutchison has faced strong criticism from China for its decision to sell most of its $22.8 billion port business to BlackRock, which represents the power of American plutocracy and is bound to downplay its U.S.-owned capital, and the Panama port happens to be an important waterway channel for China to open up the Belt and Road Initiative, making this seemingly ordinary commercial transaction a bulwark in the U.S.-China trade war and becoming highly politically sensitive.

This article Changhe port transaction case is variable? It is rumored that the Italian shipping giant will co-hold the Panama port with BlackRock! It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.