BlackRock strikes deal to bring ports on both sides of Panama Canal under American control

A Hong Kong-based conglomerate has agreed to sell its controlling stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the Panama Canal to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control after President Donald Trump alleged Chinese interference with the operations of the critical shipping lane.

In a filing, CK Hutchison Holding said Tuesday that it would sell all shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and in Hutchison Port Group Holdings to the consortium in a deal valued at nearly $23 billion, including $5 billion in debt.

The deal will give the BlackRock consortium control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama, as well as others in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

The transaction, which must be approved by Panama’s government, does not include any interest in a trust that operates ports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and South China, or any other ports in China.

Some 70% of the sea traffic that crosses the Panama Canal leaves or goes to U.S. ports. The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Trump has claimed that Carter “foolishly” gave the canal away.

Trump and his supporters have also complained about the fees that ships are charged to use the waterway and alleged that China has been operating the canal, an assertion denied by Panama’s government.

In January, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, raised concerns that China could exploit or block passage through the canal and that the ports “give China ready observation posts” to take action. “This situation, I believe, posts acute risks for U.S. national security,” Cruz said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama in early February and told President José Raúl Mulino that Panama had to reduce Chinese influence over the canal or face potential retaliation from the United States. Mulino rejected the idea that China had any control over canal operations.

Panama quit China’s Belt and Road Initiative following Rubio’s visit, drawing condemnation from Beijing. Belt and Road is Beijing’s global development strategy to build roads, ports and railways to open up new markets.

But while much attention was focused on Trump’s threat to retake control of the canal, his administration trained its sights on Hutchison Ports, the Hong Kong-based consortium that manages the ports key ports at either end of the canal.

Hutchison Ports had recently been awarded a 25-year no-bid extension to run the ports, but an audit looking at that extension was already underway. Observers believed the audit was a preliminary step toward eventually rebidding the contract, but rumors had swirled in recent weeks that a U.S. firm close to the White House was being lined up to take over.

Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, said in a statement that the transaction was “the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received.”

“I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports,” Sixt said.

In addition to BlackRock, a New York-based global investment management company with $11.6 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, the consortium includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited.

BlackRock declined to comment outside of a press release touting the deal. Shares in BlackRock fell 1.5% in afternoon trading Tuesday.