Italy-based Terminal Investment is on its way to become the lead investor of a group seeking to buy 43 ports from CK Hutchison (HKG:0001), Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Once the deal is consummated, Terminal Investment or TiL, a container business owned by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte, will be the sole owner of all the ports of Li Ka-shing's business empire, the report said.
The transaction will not include the two ports on the Panama Canal which BlackRock is set to control, the report said.
The Balboa and Cristobal ports will be 51% owned by BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners while TiL will hold the remaining 49%, the report said.
The deal with TiL is pending due diligence and other checks, as well as regulatory approvals, the report said.
The ports have been the most geopolitically controversial, inviting China's anger and Panama's scrutiny, the report said.
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