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A Hong Kong company that operates ports on both ends of the Panama Canal said this week that it had agreed to sell its business there. CK Hutchison announced it had a deal with a group of investors led by a U.S. company. The sale looks like a win for President Trump, who has repeatedly stated that he wants the U.S. to reclaim control of the Panama Canal. Reporter Sherisse Pham has more from northwest Hong Kong.
SHERISSE PHAM: I'm here at CK Hutchison's Logistics Center in Kwai Tsing Container Port, one of the busiest container ports in the world.
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PHAM: I see miles and miles of goods and shipping containers and trucks. Everything is stacked like LEGO pieces, ready to be boarded on a ship and transported around the world.
But this week, the company announced that it's selling the bulk of its ports business to a group of buyers led by BlackRock. Among the assets being sold - two ports operated by CK Hutchison in the Panama Canal that had come under fire by the Trump administration.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it.
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PHAM: That was President Trump on Tuesday. He earlier accused China of operating the Panama Canal, an unfounded claim. Beijing called it, quote, "pure lies." CK Hutchison maintains its operations are strictly commercial.
The company traces its roots back to when Hong Kong was under British rule. It was founded by billionaire Li Ka-shing, who's now 96 years old. CK Hutchison is a sprawling international conglomerate, operating everything from retail shops to telecommunications.
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PHAM: The company had operated ports for decades, but it was an opportune time to exit a business that had come under geopolitical pressure, according to Dan Baker, senior analyst with Morningstar, a U.S. financial services company.
DAN BAKER: My view is, if you get a really good price for it, why not?
PHAM: Morningstar estimates Hutchison's ports business was worth about $10 billion. The company sold it to the BlackRock group for nearly double that.
BAKER: Given there has been, as of just recently, some geopolitical concerns with some of those businesses - particularly the ones in Panama - they're probably worth more in the buyer's hands than they are in Hutchison's hands.
PHAM: But George Chen, Hong Kong managing director of the D.C. consulting firm The Asia Group, argues that CK Hutchison's decision to sell the ports business in Panama is a blow to Hong Kong's reputation as an independent financial center.
GEORGE CHEN: On one hand, I think it shows, you know, Li Ka-shing - you know, he's a businessman, and he treats this more as a business decision. But on the other hand, I don't think the deal really makes Hong Kong looks good.
PHAM: Chen says CK Hutchison striking this deal so quickly indicates Hong Kong companies nowadays really can't afford to get caught up in geopolitical storms. In a statement, a CK Hutchison spokesperson says the deal is, quote, "purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama ports."
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: CK Hutchison enters the dawn of a new season, building on a firm foundation of its past.
PHAM: Hong Kong companies like CK Hutchison once had the best of both worlds, operating in a freer financial system separate from Communist China while still having easy access to China's vast markets. But after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, the region has increasingly been lumped together with Mainland China. Even this deal, analysts say, appears to reflect that lack of distinction.
CK Hutchison is now selling dozens of ports in more than 20 countries, but it isn't exiting the business entirely. It will continue to own and operate ports in just two territories, Hong Kong and Mainland China.
For NPR News, I'm Sherisse Pham in Hong Kong.
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