The city's mayor said the deal between Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison and major US investment firm BlackRock required “serious attention”.
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Political pressure is mounting over a Hong Kong conglomerate's plan to sell its Panamanian ports to US investor BlackRock, casting doubt on the future of the $19 billion deal.
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday joined growing warnings from China, saying the deal deserved “serious attention.”
The deal between CK Hutchison, one of Hong Kong’s most successful conglomerates, and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was seen by investors as a resolution to a geopolitical row that began with President Trump’s assertion that CK Hutchison’s ownership of two major ports on either side of the Panama Canal was a national security issue because it was “operated by China.” Mr. Trump praised the BlackRock deal after it was announced.
Now, that decision is starting to look more like a problem. Shares in CK Hutchison, controlled by Li Ka-shing, one of Hong Kong’s richest men, fell nearly 3 percent on Tuesday after Mr. Li’s comments. The company has canceled news conferences and investor briefings scheduled for this week, when it releases its latest financial report. Hutchison did not respond to requests for comment.
China has criticized the planned port deal, which would see CK Hutchison sell off most of its Hutchison Port Holdings, including its Panama ports and more than 40 other ports around the world. A series of commentaries published in Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by the Chinese government and Communist Party, claimed that the Hutchison-BlackRock deal would allow the United States to “use it for political purposes and advance its own political agenda,” in turn making Chinese shipping and trade “subservient to the United States.”
Hong Kong's Mr Lee said on Tuesday that “any transaction must comply with legal and regulatory requirements.” Speaking at a weekly press briefing, he said the government “will handle it in accordance with the law and regulations.”
