An investor group backed by BlackRock has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Hong Kong subsidiary that runs ports along either side of the Panama Canal, giving a U.S. firm control of key docks amid pressure from the White House to take them from China.
The $22.8 billion sale by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to U.S. and Swiss investors also includes dozens of ports in other countries, the companies announced Tuesday. The move appears to be a win for U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive diplomacy just hours before he is due to tout the successes of the first six tumultuous weeks of his second term in an address to the U.S. Congress.
He vowed to wrest control of the strategic canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during his Jan. 20 inauguration speech, falsely claiming China is operating it. The transaction appears to hand command of the vital docks on both entrances of the canal to U.S. interests.
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