Business, Freight News, Sea


Hutchinson ports sale runs into trouble

[ December 19, 2025   //   ]

The planned sale of Hutchison’s international port operations, including Felixstowe, to a consortium including BlackRock and MSC’s Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) are deadlocked, according to a report in the The Wall Street Journal. The sticking point appears to be demands by China that its state-owned shipping company Cosco has a majority share in the company, which BlackRock and MSC say is not acceptable. It was also reported that the US government is unhappy at the prospect of China controlling ports at the entrance to the Panama Canal.

The European Commission is already investigating TiL’s planned acquisition of Barcelona’s Terminal Catalunya from Hutchison on competition grounds, the port’s only other terminal being operated by Maersk’s APMT.

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