The agreement between the MSC consortium and BlackRock to buy 80% of the assets of terminal operator Hutchison Ports, announced in March, may be subject to changes. According to Bloomberg, the Chinese state-owned company COSCO is believed to be joining the talks. Sources suggest that this is a compromise between the US and China, reached during May consultations in Switzerland.
According to the original plan, MSC was to take over most of Hutchison’s assets outside China, including key terminals in Panama, with some infrastructure to be managed by the American investment fund. But the agreement has caused concern in Beijing, where its approval has been put under close review. The Panamanian government, for its part, said that such a transfer of control could violate the canal’s neutrality regime.
If MSC succeeds in the deal, the company will control almost 200 million TEU of container capacity, which is equivalent to about 15% of the global terminal market, according to Drewry chief analyst Eirik Hooper. This will bring MSC closer to an unprecedented level of influence on the world’s port infrastructure.