A self-prescribed deadline by a Hong Kong private conglomerate to sell off its two ports along the Panama Canal came to pass on Wednesday, after Communist Party newspapers blasted the plan as undermining Beijing’s interest.
CK Hutchison, owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing, was expected to finalize “definitive documentation” which was to be signed on or before Wednesday, according to a joint Mar. 4 announcement by the firm and the U.S. investment firm BlackRock, which would be taking over from the ports.
But the apparent delay came as Beijing’s market regulator last week announced it will review the port sales “to protect fair market competition and safeguard public interests.” Beijing-controlled newspaper Ta Kung Pao and others also published several articles last month, criticizing the sale.
Mounting pressure resulted in the plans being hatched for the sale of the ports in a deal that would have seen CK Hutchison’s 90% interest in the Panama ports, and its 80% controlling interest in its 43 ports worldwide, except those in mainland China and Hong Kong, sold off to a U.S. consortium for $22.8 billion.
