CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. ruled out the likelihood of the controversial sale of its global ports to a BlackRock Inc.-backed consortium being completed this year, but stayed optimistic about the deal’s prospects after inviting a Chinese investor into the mix.
A transaction wouldn’t be completed this year even if binding agreements are settled sooner, said CK Hutchison co-managing director Frank Sixt at an analysts’ briefing following the release of its interim earnings results on August 14. He pointed out the complexity involved in the deal, which covers 43 of CK Hutchison’s ports, including two in the Panama Canal. If completed, the sale could net the conglomerate founded by billionaire Li Ka-shing more than $19 billion in cash.
“We are in a new stage of our deal and that includes, as we have said, discussions with a major strategic Chinese investor,” Sixt said. “I believe that there is a reasonable chance that those discussions will lead to a deal that is good for all of the parties, ourselves included, and most importantly, that will be capable of being approved by all of the relevant authorities.”
The comments came amid uncertainties over the fate of the geopolitically fraught deal, which has become a proxy for the rivalry between the U.S. and China. While President Donald Trump hailed the sale as a win over the Panama waterway, Beijing has expressed strong displeasure over the sale, seeing it as a betrayal to the nation and kowtowing to American pressure.
CK Hutchison shares swung between gains and losses in early trading on August 15, after first-half results released August 14 showed profit plunged 92% due to a one-time, non-cash loss from a merger. Through August 14’s close, the shares had added 25% this year.
The company has already missed a chance to ink a definitive agreement before a window for exclusive talks with the buying consortium expired in late July.
State-owned China Cosco Shipping Corp. was negotiating a powerful role for itself as a condition to join the buying consortium, which also includes Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s Terminal Investment Ltd., people familiar with the matter have said.
While the discussions have taken longer than expected, the group doesn’t see it as particularly troublesome because the port operations have been performing well this year, Sixt said. The company reported a 9% increase in revenue at its ports and related services business for the first half of the year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 10%, mainly due to higher throughput and storage income in regions including mainland China, Asia, the Middle East, Mexico and Europe.
