BlackRock strikes deal to bring ports on both sides of Panama Canal
under American control
[March 05, 2025] By
DIDI TANG and ALEX VEIGA
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, located at
either end of the Panama Canal. Other ports are 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.
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A cargo ship goes through the Panama Canal's Cocoli locks in Panama
City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
 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.
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