By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) – Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has agreed to sell control of two ports near the Panama Canal to US-based investment company BlackRock, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
The transaction comes amid pressure by US President Donald Trump, who has claimed China is running the Panama Canal, adding that he wants the US to take control of the waterway.
Beijing has consistently denied any involvement in interfering with canal operations.
The sale includes transferring 90% interests of the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama from CK Hutchison to a consortium which includes BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Terminal Investment.
The transaction also includes the consortium receiving units that hold 80% of the Hutchison Ports group, which operates 43 ports in 23 countries.
The sale will generate cash proceeds of $19 billion for CK Hutchison, said Frank Sixt, the holding’s co-managing director.
Sixt said the “transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports” on the Panama ports.
The transaction will proceed independently once Panama’s government confirms the proposed terms of purchase and sale.
After a Feb. 2 visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panama also officially announced its withdrawal from China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Beijing criticized Panama’s withdrawal, accusing the US of interference.